Hishizashi and Sakiori, Textiles of Tohoku Japan
In late July 2024, I embarked on the overnight Princess Silver, a passenger ferry departing from the island of Hokkaido and bound for Hachinohe, located in the southeastern region of Aomori Prefecture. The primary objective of my visit was to meet with a textile artisan certified in the traditional craft of Hishizashi, and a leading examiner of ethnicity (Minzoku) from Hachinohe City Museum. The purpose of our gathering was to engage in discussions and showcase a distinctive collection of Hishizashi (local sashiko) garments, some referred to as “boro”, typically not on public display, and Sakiori, rag-weaving, as part of my research expedition in preparation for our 2026 small group tours.
In addition to us at the Hachinohe City Museum, approximately eight Hishizashi artisans, an engineering professor from the Hachinohe Institute of Technology, a reporter from the local newspaper, The Daily Tohoku Shimbun were in attendance. All were passionate about Hishizashi and Sakiori (rag-weaving), local treasures developed by local women mostly during the Edo (1603-1868) and Meiji (1868-1912) era with the aspiration of transforming scarce material into durable, warm, and aesthetically pleasing materials.
Among the collections were noragi (workmen’s attire often referes as “boro”), shitattsuke (pants worn under Hishizashi kimono), women’s garments, mae-dare (apron for special occasions), sakiori kotatsu-gake (fabric to cover kotatsu-table during winter), to name a few.
At Tanpopo Journeys, a fundamental aspect of our mission is to collaborate with artists and craftspeople to nurture and conserve traditional Japanese crafts and to share them with others around the world. My visit to Hachinohe exemplified this endeavor.
It was an absolute pleasure to encounter individuals from diverse sectors who recognize the intrinsic value of these crafts and are collectively willing to share them among a broader audience.
