A number of small companies in Tokushima City, the capital of the Japanese prefecture of the same name, are keeping traditional weaving and natural dyeing techniques alive, despite competition from modern industry and synthetic dyes.
"Aizome" is a dyeing method using "sukumo", a natural dye made by fermenting indigo leaves. It started being used around the 16th century. Sukumo produced in Tokushima Prefecture, distinctively called "Awa-Ai", became known for its high quality and brought prosperity to the prefecture, the largest centre for such production in 17th-century Japan.
Although indigo dye production declined once synthetic indigo became popular at the end of the 19th century,
Tokushima Prefecture still produces about 60 per cent of sukumo in Japan and co-ordinates the entire process, from farming indigo plants to making dyes, dyeing fabrics, and making the products.
Weaving and dyeing is primarily based in the capital.
Tokushima City economic policy division subsection chief Ikuko Ichimaya tells The National that according to 2009 figures, five companies (one has since ceased operations) employed 53 people, with some more employed by a number of tiny companies. Sales amounted to ¥270 million, but figures have come down in recent years.
Synthetic dyeing, being easier and cheaper, has increased, Ms Ichimaya says. “Today, a lot of fabrics are imported from China and other Asian countries,” she says.
Since Tokushima City's aizome industry cannot compete on price, the only option is to emphasise its handmade and traditional qualities, Noriko Ariuchi, Faculty of Life Sciences professor at Shikoku University in Tokushima University, tells The National.
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One of the city’s four dyeing techniques is “shijiraori”, invented by a local woman called Hana Kaifu in 1865. It uses material woven with yarns dyed with only the natural indigo of Tokushima. Because of the uneven texture of the shijiraori’s puckers, the fabric is breathable and does not cling to the skin, which makes it perfect for summer clothing.
Founded in 1897, Nagao Orifu started out as a shijiraori textile maker. The company, which employs 20 people, now also not only makes traditional Japanese clothing, but men’s shirts and interior products like tapestry.
The company imports its cotton and uses a combination of synthetic and natural dyes for its lower-end products, reserving natural-only dyeing for its higher-end fabrics, fifth-generation owner Itaro Nagao says.
Nagao Orifu’s higher-end products sell for between ¥100,000 (Dh3,372) and ¥200,000.
The company exports small quantities to Hong Kong and the US, and is waiting for the result of a sample order it filled out to France.
“If we can build the demand, we would be glad to expand our export business,” Mr Nagao says.
Denim makers in Tokushima City dye yarns with natural indigo and weave them with traditional shuttle-weaving machines to make selvedge denim fabric.
A selvedge is a self-finished edge of fabric which keeps the fabric from unravelling or fraying. Textile maker Rampuya started making selvedge denim 40 years ago, even before the fabric became popular.
“Big demand started 10 years ago, but it came down in the past few years,” company president Masakazu Okamoto says.
Many textile companies are switching to new looms, but that would require a huge investment from his 15-employee company, Mr Okamoto says. “So we’re sticking to selvedge,” he says.
Textile production here seems destined to continue being a small-scale craft activity, as indigo dyeing tends to be an individual enterprise, and there are only a few fabric suppliers.
Nor can producers put much hope in increasing business through exports. Inquiries from overseas, from both individuals and companies, are increasing slightly, but it seems that it will not lead to actual business, Ms Ariuchi says.
"It is quite difficult to increase demand," she says. Polly Leonard, editor-publisher of the London-based textile monthly magazine Selvedge, would beg to differ.
Ms Leonard investigated Tokushima Prefecture’s textile and dyeing industry last October and expressed awe at everything she saw.
Since the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013, when a five-storey garment factory outside Bangladesh's capital of Dhaka collapsed, killing 1,134 people and injuring about 2,500 others, there has been a seismic shift in perception in Europe about inexpensive imported textiles, primarily from China, Ms Leonard tells The National.
“Customers are demanding provenance,” she says.
Enlightened consumers want to know where their textiles come from and how they have been made. “This bodes well for the producers we met [in Tokushima City] on the whole,” Ms Leonard says.
Indigo is steeped in Japanese cultural traditions, which is both a blessing and a curse for the dyeing technique.
The very thing that makes Japanese blue so prized is also responsible for its downfall in recent years. The products, such as kimono, fans and jinbei (traditional summer clothing) are no longer relevant in the wider community, Ms Leonard says.
“If indigo can find a new purpose away from these cliched products, it has a future,” she says.
Denim stands as the primary example, where the old narrow looms have found a new purpose: weaving selvedge denim, Ms Leonard says.
“Narrow fabric is not economically viable for anything other than jeans and here this major drawback of these narrow looms has become an asset, a selling point, with Japanese selvedge denim a cult item in the West,” she says.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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What is a calorie?
A food calorie, or kilocalorie, is a measure of nutritional energy generated from what is consumed.
One calorie, is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1°C.
A kilocalorie represents a 1,000 true calories of energy.
Energy density figures are often quoted as calories per serving, with one gram of fat in food containing nine calories, and a gram of protein or carbohydrate providing about four.
Alcohol contains about seven calories a gram.
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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
In 2018, the ICRC received 27,756 trace requests in the Middle East alone. The global total was 45,507.
There are 139,018 global trace requests that have not been resolved yet, 55,672 of these are in the Middle East region.
More than 540,000 individuals approached the ICRC in the Middle East asking to be reunited with missing loved ones in 2018.
The total figure for the entire world was 654,000 in 2018.
THE%20FLASH
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima
Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650
Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder
Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
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RIVER%20SPIRIT
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INDIA SQUAD
Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami
About Seez
Company name/date started: Seez, set up in September 2015 and the app was released in August 2017
Founder/CEO name(s): Tarek Kabrit, co-founder and chief executive, and Andrew Kabrit, co-founder and chief operating officer
Based in: Dubai, with operations also in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon
Sector: Search engine for car buying, selling and leasing
Size: (employees/revenue): 11; undisclosed
Stage of funding: $1.8 million in seed funding; followed by another $1.5m bridge round - in the process of closing Series A
Investors: Wamda Capital, B&Y and Phoenician Funds
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The years Ramadan fell in May
Results
2.30pm: Park Avenue – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (Dirt) 2,000m; Winner: Rb Seqondtonone, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
3.05pm: Al Furjan – Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,200m; Winner: Bosphorus, Dane O’Neill, Bhupat Seemar
3.40pm: Mina – Rated Condition (TB) Dh105,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Royal Mews, Tadhg O’Shea, Bhupat Seemar
4.15pm: Aliyah – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (T) 1,900m; Winner: Ursa Minor, Ray Dawson, Ahmad bin Harmash
4.50pm: Riviera Beach – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 2,200m; Winner: Woodditton, Saif Al Balushi, Ahmad bin Harmash
5.25pm: Riviera – Handicap (TB) Dh2,000 (T) 2,000m; Winner: Al Madhar, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
6pm: Creek Views – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Al Salt, Dane O’Neill, Erwan Charpy
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
SPECS
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Pathaan
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
