Small Birds of the Ocean (Ai-kōzaa umi tōiguwaa) Kimono
Taira Toshiko Japanese
Not on view
Banana fiber fabric (bashōfu) is made from a tree-like plantain plant native to Okinawa (distinct from fruit- or flower-bearing varieties). Making the unique regional textile is a laborious process requiring great skill. Stems of the ito-bashō plant are split, softened by boiling, and then scraped. Once the strips have dried, the fibers are separated to achieve the desired thickness, knotted end-to-end, spun, and woven. Beginning in the 1940s, Taira Toshiko worked to preserve and revitalize traditional banana fiber craft in the Kijōka district of Ogimi village. Small Birds of the Ocean is made of Kijōka banana fiber dyed with Okinawa (or Ryūkyū) indigo. The fabric is a handwoven kasuri, a textile in which the warp and weft threads are resist-dyed to form a pattern. The Japanese Agency of Cultural Affairs designated bashōfu an Important Intangible Cultural Asset in 1974, and Taira Toshiko was named a Living National Treasure in 2000.
