niime 百科

Encyclopedia of niime

(continued from part one)

— Ms Tamaki, how long did it take you to weave with a power loom? You couldn’t knit the shawls from the beginning, right?

Tamaki: I started with plain weaving.… I don’t remember that time so much, though. It took about three months to make the Only One Shawl.

— Hmm.

Tamaki: I focused on what I should make, instead of practising how to use the machine.

— You immediately put it into real work.

Tamaki: I did progressively. But it was tough.

— Your skills grew faster in that way.

Tamaki: I just needed to do it.

— You just made what you wanted to create.

Tamaki: I called Mr Ito to ask why the treads were cut off all of a sudden in the middle of the night. (laugh) He said that he would really see it the next day. Is that okay?… I said I got it!

— (laugh)

Tamaki: But the advantage of the power loom is that I can watch the movement of the machine when there’s a problem. The machines I used later were rapier looms and Jacquard looms, which have many electric parts and accessories. So, I can’t follow the machine’s movements in those looms. However, all the parts of the power looms are made with irons, so I can follow the movements as I push this button, and the machine works this way. I could see all the movements. I could ask the machine how I want to move it.

— I see.

Tamaki: So, the way I hope to move the machine is to talk with the weaving machine, which is interesting…I had so much fun.

— You know how to move the machines clearly if you push this way and the machine responds that way.

Tamaki: There were many times the parts of the machines broke down, and I asked Mr Ito to fix them. I probably handled the machines roughly, or I treated them in the wrong way (laugh). I kept working with Mr Ito in a three-legged race. Because of that power loom, I could make the shawls, the One and Only product, which I hope to make continuously in my life. It’s all thanks to Mr Ito.

— Did you customise the machine ever since you started using it?

Tamaki: I have been using the power looms as they are. I want to keep the advantages that the machines have. I didn’t want to use other ways.

— You unleash the potential that they have.

Tamaki: I specifically like the large designs. I don’t want detailed patterns, so I struggled with the horizontal patterns. I wondered how I could achieve both the soft texture of the fabric and good fabric structures. I made full use of parts of the power loom as it is, and searched for a way of weaving to get the softest fabric. In making horizontal patterns, the number of parts in creating patterns of iron plates is limited. So I can’t make the patterns infinitely. With the iron plates that the machine has, I took on a three-month challenge: how can I create the longest patterns without repeating them?

— It was trial and error to make full use of the power loom, as you expected the potential.

Tamaki: In colours, I wondered how to get the unrepeatable patterns. I have been thinking about the things nobody has ever achieved yet with this power loom.

— What you called it is the One and Only.…

Tamaki: There’s no meaning if this is the only thing that I can do. There’s no need to get the weaving machines, nor do I do it in Nishiwaki, which I shouldn’t compromise to pursue. That’s why I kept doing it for three months.

— Mr Ito was with you there every day.

Tamaki: He helped me all the way. There were many troubles, like making funny noises or shuttles jumping out! (laugh)

— Ha.

Tamaki: I use it intuitively, that’s why I don’t know the reasons for problems…I haven’t studied logically about what power looms are. People use the machines after they learn how to operate them in school. But I worked randomly and encountered problems, like shuttles jumping out, and wondered if something was wrong (laugh). Every time I had a problem, Mr Ito fixed it for me.

— Because of old machines, there were no manuals or instructions. You just gave it a try.…

Tamaki: I just used it. I learned simple structure principles, such as how vertical warp threads come to the front, while horizontal weft threads jump in to keep weaving. However, my role involved creating and designing, so for machine maintenance, I relied entirely on Mr Ito. Because I had no experience and didn’t know why the machine didn’t work, I always called him to ask for help, which I did for a long time…If he were not there, I couldn’t weave.

— In the first place, there wouldn’t be any designers to try with such an approach.

Tamaki: Probably, there wouldn’t be.

Ms Tamaki wove with her own hands, feeling the fabrics, and through repeated trial and error, studying, and working, she freely felt her creativity. Her body-slam way of creation must be her way of just being one.

— It was a…One-of-a-Kind. It’s not only limited to Banshu ori. You didn’t follow the regulated ways like the roles of women workers in the factory…

Tamaki: It’s essential for them to follow the instructions to weave.

— You just wanted to try it as you like, and you did it.

Tamaki: I asked him to let me use the machine.

— It amused Mr Ito.

Tamaki: Yeah, he worked with me.

— He did it in a three-legged race.

Tamaki: He had never yelled that he didn’t want to do it.

— Rethinking back, even in the history of ‘tamaki niime’…

Tamaki: He was a very important person. As our staff who have been weaving have changed, starting with me, many different staff members have taken over, but Mr Ito has always been with us. He was really like a pillar of the Weaving Team to me.

— I see.

Tamaki: So, losing Mr Ito is a considerable loss for me. Oh, we don’t have the person to fix the machine in an emergency.

— He is the One and Only.

Tamaki: I definitely told our staff members that they had to take over while he was alive. So, I will see how much they have adopted his teachings. I believe they can do it, but I’m not sure if they can do it as well as Mr Ito yet.

— … Tamaki: I also asked Mr Nishikaku to help us, but he replied that he couldn’t teach us. Instead, he suggested we should read the instructions for the rapier looms, as we don’t have an instruction manual for the power looms. “First, you try to understand it, and if you still don’t know how to fix it, I will help you,” he said. We can’t get the answers if we are just sitting. What he said was correct. Can we do it with that strong will? We received help anytime when we called Mr Ito, “Help me, Mr Ito!” or “Something is wrong,” he helped us. He was like Doraemon for Nobita.

— The answers suddenly came out of Mr Ito’s mind just like Draemon’s pocket.…

Tamaki: That’s right. He just told me that this was the problem, and he fixed it. How terrible for Nobita, who lost Doraemon! (laugh).

— You need to do it by yourself.

Tamaki: That’s why I announced a ‘Declaration of Emergency’, and I brought back old weaving members, Chatani and Fujimoto, who may have known Mr Ito. With other tasks, including maintenance, I want them to work with Mr Taniguchi and Kugo together. I changed the system.

— Mr Ito’s apprentices gathered.

Tamaki: What we need to do is to do it ourselves. So we realised that we have to do it on our feet. In the last two years, we lost our parental figures, like Mr Ito, Hatsuko, and Kunio, who showed us their examples. It is time for our generation to do it right and set an example for the next generation, who will then receive the baton.

— Mr Ito would have been so happy that ‘tamaki niime’ had depended on him. In a broader context, he might have felt that he had been helping the younger generations take over the district's culture of Banshu ori.

Tamaki: He brought his family to our lab to guide and show them how to use the looms. (laugh) He must have been very proud of himself.

— He did it proudly….

Tamaki: Everywhere he went, he advertised our company, or in reverse, he gave us information about the Towel Museum in Imabari, where you can see the whole process of towel manufacturing, and he asked us to visit there because it’s excellent. He even took Mr Taniguchi there with him.

― Not only the technique of maintenance, but also sharing with us a network of people and…

Tamaki: That’s right. He was unique. He brought many people to us.

— That creates a chance by connecting through people.

Tamaki: That’s right. Thanks to opportunities provided by Mr Ito and others, we could have been running our business. When we started our manufacturing business in Nishiwaki, we didn’t have many SNS activities. Many people brought others, who in turn brought more people. We have been creating such chains. To continue that, I hope that this ‘shop&lab’ is the place where people want to bring other people.

— … Tamaki: Don’t you think that Mr Ito enjoyed working for it?

— …From what I’ve heard, I think he was a bit of a crazy person in a good way. He also helped you move from ‘589’ to ‘shop & lab’ in Ueno, and then you moved to this place, which has many types of weaving machines displayed like a museum, right?

Tamaki: Mr Ito made it by leading a team of some people. The number of people who know about the machines is getting smaller. We met Mr Tsuchida coincidentally and learned about the power looms, which are scarce machines in the Banshu ori district. The name of the maker is Iwama Weaving Company. Depending on the makers, the parts and structures are different, which is why Mr Ito’s help was critical. Without him now, we have to explore how we fill our needs. Anyway, we have to do our best.

— Mr Ito’s skills of maintenance and technical knowledge are non-replaceable, ‘One and Only’

Tamaki: Yeah, that’s right. No one can replace him, even though I’ve asked about machinery shops and other places for products. There’s no one like him. That’s why old- aged workers of machinery shops who depended on Mr Ito are in trouble, saying, “What should we do?”. Since he worked until he was 84, doesn’t that mean there’s no one?

— The people who know about old power looms are minimal.

Tamaki: Such people didn’t exist who know how to handle power looms. Thinking of the generations who experienced the power looms is about Mr Nishikaku’s generation, which is about the late 70s.

— I see.

Tamaki: In the worst-case scenario, we could finish using the power looms and repurpose them as decorations, but I’d prefer to continue using rapier machines and other functional equipment. At last, Mr Ito left the Jacquard weaving machine, which was still halfway through the process of being fixed. He must have felt it was unfinished work, and he mentioned needing to go to ‘tamaki niime’ to complete it.

— That was before he passed away?

Tamaki: He appeared at our company after being absent. I could talk to him if he was all right. He said, “I had to come here to do maintenance. I wanted to come here”. We said, “That’s why you were pulled back here.”

— He cared about the weaving machines of ‘tamaki niime’ until he passed away.

Tamaki: Now we are at a crucial moment, and we need to decide whether we can continue weaving. I think Mr Ito watches over us. Our young workers face a challenge: how much can they achieve by 2025?

— They are Mr Ito’s apprentices. Tamaki: We have to do it. Please look forward to it! I have Nozomi Taniguchi, who is Mr Ito’s favourite pupil, to discuss.

Taniguchi: He took care of me at work and even in my personal life. I don’t know how I will face myself without him, but I just need to keep going forward. I still wanted to learn a lot from him. I will try not to waste the teachings I have received from him and do my best.

― He took care of you not only at work but also personally.

Tamaki: Because you have a weaving machine at your house. Is that Iwama company’s?

Taniguchi: It’s a smaller one of Iwama’s.

Tamaki: Is that so? He told me that his successor is Mr Taniguchi, and he wanted Mr Taniguchi to ask about Iwama.(laugh)

Taniguchi: On the day off, he invited me to eat oysters at Hinase and took me with him.…

— Are you fixing the Jacquard loom now that Mr Ito left?

Taniguchi: Yes.

Tamaki: He would be watching you by your side. Everyone works together with you. Let’s enjoy working!

― We will have Sakai’s words at the end.

Sakai: Even though Mr Ito passed away, I think he was the last genius and heretic. He was always challenging and leaning forward in a good way.

— I heard he was an energetic person. He was always moving.

Sakai: Exactly. So he was a rare person. We couldn’t have been aware of how great he was while he was living. How can we, who are left, take over this? Mr Ito was a runner who kept running till the end.

The core part of the manufacturing of ‘tamaki niime’ is on-site at the lab, where the sound of weaving echoes.

It is also the place for an unconventional mechanic who lived through the history of Banshu ori and passed on with burning passion as his last act.

Mr Yoshitada Ito didn’t stop running until the last. The memorial gathering for Mr Ito took place at the tamaki niime tabe room on the 16th of January. The people who connected with him in the products district gathered together.

The big screen at the meeting place repeatedly projected Mr Ito’s smiling face, who played with the weaving machines with staff members.

Original Japanese text by Seiji Koshikawa.
English translation by Adam & Michiko Whipple.