Traditional craft
Yaeyama Jofu
八重山上布
A crisp, cool ramie cloth from Ishigaki and Taketomi in Okinawa, dyed with island plants and finished by soaking in the sea.
Key facts
- Officially recognised
- 11 April 1989
- Type
- Woven textiles
- Region
- Kyushu & Okinawa
- Official name in Japanese
- 八重山上布
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 石垣市、八重山郡竹富町
Made for island summers
Yaeyama Jofu uses Ryukyu ikat patterns on cloth woven with hand-spun ramie. It is dyed with plants and woven by hand, so colours vary slightly and no two pieces are alike. It feels smooth and cool, ideal for summer kimono, and is made on Ishigaki and Taketomi in Okinawa.
Finished in the sea
The thread is hand-spun from ramie harvested several times a year. Besides hand-tied ikat, weavers print patterns with kuuru, a plant dye whose northern limit is said to be Ishigaki. The finished cloth is soaked in seawater for about five hours.
Skill born of hardship
After Satsuma invaded Ryukyu in the early 17th century, a poll tax forced islanders to weave this cloth, and the skill improved under that pressure. After the tax ended, a cooperative formed in the late Meiji era. The war almost ended production, and only a few weavers kept it going afterwards.
Good to know
- Look for both styles: plain white with brown printed ikat, and the newer, colourful hand-tied ikat.
- Small items such as mini shisa lion dogs in jofu cloth are popular with younger visitors.
Questions travellers ask
Why is Yaeyama Jofu soaked in seawater?
Soaking the finished cloth in the sea for about five hours fixes and brightens it, a step that improved its quality when it was revived.
Where is Yaeyama Jofu made?
On Ishigaki and Taketomi in the Yaeyama Islands of Okinawa.
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.