Traditional craft
Murayama Oshima Tsumugi
村山大島紬
A light, hard-wearing silk ikat from the western suburbs of Tokyo, dyed by clamping the thread between carved wooden boards and handed down from grandmother to granddaughter.
Key facts
- Officially recognised
- 17 February 1975
- Type
- Woven textiles
- Region
- Kanto
- Official name in Japanese
- 村山大島紬
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 立川市、青梅市、昭島市、東大和市、武蔵村山市他 埼玉県／飯能市他
Tokyo's own ikat silk
Murayama Oshima Tsumugi is a silk ikat woven in the Tama area of western Tokyo, in towns such as Tachikawa, Ome and Musashimurayama, and in Hanno in Saitama. It is light and comfortable to wear and strong enough to be passed down through generations. Tokyo lists it as an Intangible Cultural Property.
Dyed between carved boards
Its signature is board-clamp dyeing. Grooves are carved into wooden boards following the design, the thread is sandwiched between them and bolted tight, then dye is poured in: only the grooves take colour. The dyed threads are laid out again to the pattern and woven so that warp and weft motifs meet exactly.
Two local cloths become one
The craft dates from the late Edo period. Around 1920 two local textiles, Murayama Kongasuri, an indigo-dyed ikat, and Sunagawa Futoori, a silk woven from double cocoons, came together and silk Murayama Oshima became the main product.
Good to know
- Look for the fine tortoise-shell and cross motifs that only board-clamp dyeing can produce this crisply.
- The production area is a short train ride from central Tokyo, so it fits a day in the Tama area.
Questions travellers ask
Is Murayama Oshima the same as Amami Oshima Tsumugi?
No. Despite the similar name it is a different cloth: Murayama Oshima is woven in western Tokyo and dyed with carved boards.
Where is Murayama Oshima Tsumugi made?
In Tachikawa, Ome, Akishima, Higashiyamato, Musashimurayama and nearby towns in Tokyo, and in Hanno in Saitama.
Where it comes from
More crafts from the same area
Local foods from the same area
Heritage stories from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.