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The earliest extant mention of ''bashôfu'' is in a [[1546]] account written by Koreans shipwrecked in the Ryukyus, who also describe how it is made - a process that has remained largely unchanged, at least in certain parts of the Ryukyus, among certain lineages of weavers, down to the present day. The banana fabric is not mentioned as a [[tribute]] good, however, until over forty years later, in [[1587]].

The earliest extant mention of ''bashôfu'' is in a [[1546]] account written by Koreans shipwrecked in the Ryukyus, who also describe how it is made - a process that has remained largely unchanged, at least in certain parts of the Ryukyus, among certain lineages of weavers, down to the present day. The banana fabric is not mentioned as a [[tribute]] good, however, until over forty years later, in [[1587]].

The material is central enough to Okinawan culture that a song called "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kImjKvDIko Bashôfu]" is among the most well-known and popular folk songs today. [[Taira Toshiko]], a weaver who collaborated with [[Yanagi Soetsu|Yanagi Sôetsu]] in the 1930s and was named a [[Living National Treasure]] in 2000, is the most prominent producer of ''bashôfu'' today, at her workshop in Kijoka.<ref name=francesco/>

The material is central enough to Okinawan culture that a song called "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kImjKvDIko Bashôfu]" is among the most well-known and popular folk songs today. [[Taira Toshiko]], a weaver who collaborated with [[Yanagi Soetsu|Yanagi Sôetsu]] in the 1930s and was named a [[Living National Treasure]] in 2000, is the most prominent producer of ''bashôfu'' today, at her workshop in Kijoka. Ishigaki Akiko is another notable ''bashôfu'' weaver active today, though she has not received the same national and international attention as Taira.<ref name=francesco/>

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