Ryukyuan textiles

Of its various traditional crafts, Ryûkyû is perhaps most well-known for its textiles. Though heavily influenced by China, Japan, and other cultures, Ryûkyû had its own distinctive forms and styles of garments, from the royalty and aristocracy down to that worn by the peasants, as well as its own distinctive techniques. Ryukyuan textiles were prized enough that they were a very common tribute good sent to China and Japan, as well as exported in great volumes as a trade good, i.e. commercially.

Materials

There are five types of fibers used traditionally in Ryukyuan textiles: bashôfu (banana fiber cloth), jôfu (ramie), cotton, silk, including tsumugi (silk pongee), and finally tunbian, or agave fiber, the use of which is limited chiefly to Miyakojima.

• Jôfu, or ramie, known as karamushi in Japanese, is said to be "prized for its strength, high luster, remarkable resistance to bacteria and mildew, [for being] absorben[t] yet quick-drying ..., and [for its] affinity to dyes." With its name meaning literally "high [quality] cloth," ramie was worn chiefly by members of the royalty and the aristocracy. It was also among the chief forms of tribute goods sent to China and Japan, and an accepted form of tax payment collected by Okinawa from Miyako, the Yaeyama Islands, and elsewhere.

• Cotton, known as mumin in Okinawan, is not native to the Ryukyus, and it is believed that it only first began to be cultivated there in the 17th century, though cotton textiles obtained through trade with Southeast Asia or elsewhere were given as tribute goods in earlier centuries. Once introduced, cotton began to be used in garments and other goods for use by the aristocracy.

• Silk was introduced from China, and came to be cultivated in the Ryukyus. Silk was produced and used in both more standard woven forms, as well as handspun into a soft, fine "pongee" called tsumugi in Japanese. Tsumugi cloth is said to have a cottony texture, but the shine of silk. Kumejima in particular is known for its tsumugi cloth, which the islanders there dye a reddish color by immersing it in the naturally iron-rich mud of the island's rice paddies.

• Bashôfu is made from the fibers of a plant closely related to, but different from, the edible fruiting banana. People of all ranks or classes in society wore bashôfu garments, though the peasants' bashôfu tended to be much coarser than that worn by the aristocracy.

Dyeing and Decoration

Textiles are traditionally dyed or decorated in a variety of ways as well. Bingata, a form of resist dyeing in which a paste-like material is used with a stencil to control which areas would be dyed, is perhaps the most famous, and involves boldly colorful patterns, often against a boldly yellow or pink ground; bingata is strongly associated with the aristocracy. Meanwhile, Ryûkyû is also known for its hana-ui brocades, ro gauze weaving, and kasuri or ikat, a form of resist-dyeing in which the threads are dyed first, before being woven into the garment, creating geometric and other patterns in a two-tone (e.g. indigo and undyed white) palette.

Garments

Ryukyuan robes, or ryûsô (琉装), are quite similar to Japanese kimono, but are not cut identically. The sleeves are never left open, as they are in Japanese garments, but rather are attached to the body of the garment, sometimes with what's called a "gusset," an extra piece of fabric under the arm (where the sleeve meets the body) that adds greater range of motion at the shoulders. The collar generally extends all the way down the garment, and the koshiage, a tuck for shortening or lengthening the garment, is generally located a bit further down.

Like the Japanese kimono, Ryukyuan robes tend to be made from a single straight bolt of cloth, and not from pieces cut out according to a pattern. One of the key differences, however, outside of the colors and patterns on the garment, is that Ryukyuan robes tend not to be tucked up under an obi (belt) the way Japanese ones are, and so the robe needs to be the appropriate length for the wearer. Various types of ties or belts are sometimes used, however; sometimes, a himo, or tie, is even tied on the inside of the garment, in a manner particularly distinctive of the Ryukyuan style, and not used for Japanese garments.

References

• "Overview of the Ryûkyûs." Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion, Volume 6: East Asia. Oxford University Press, 2010. pp418-428.