This Traditional Japanese Textile Craft Is Made with Grooved Fingernails

 

 

 

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【Backstage】Craftsman's nails. 複雑な柄を織っている時は、こうして毎朝ヤスリで爪に刻みを入れてから織機に向かいます。 This is a real Japanese hand-woven fabric. Throughout this long history, we have created a weaving technique called tsumegaki tsuzure—in which weaving artisans file their nails to a jagged shape for picking up threads—based on their ambition and spirit of taking on challenges, namely the desire to create good products at a faster speed and of better quality.Over thousands of years, the craftsmanship of these weaving artisans has been quietly passed down until today. #つづれ織り #綴織 #爪掻き本綴れ #清原織物 #SOHACHI #西陣織 #手仕事 #伝統工芸 #織物 #雑貨 #日本 #着物 #職人技 #Japan #craft #traditional #handmade #textile #kimono #weaving #design #fashion #silk #artisan #art #cool #weavingtapestry #weavingtechnique #japancrate#madeinjapan

A post shared by 株式会社清原織物 (@kiyoharaorimono) on Aug 2, 2018 at 8:35pm PDT

Tsuzure Ori can be as complex or as simple as the weaver desires, and it requires strong visual focus, which means that some of the artists' eyesight can easily deteriorate over time. 

The stunning end pieces made with the Tsuzure Ori method make it seem as though the weaving has, in fact, been painted onto the fabric instead of threaded through.

自らの爪先を切り刻み、道具として使う織物『爪掻本綴織』。
実は千年前から日本にある織物です。そして西陣織最古の織物でもあります。
ウチの職人さんも、柄を織り込む時はだいたいこんな爪で作業してます。 pic.twitter.com/0yR865VljC

— 清原 聖司 (@Sksk72957267) August 18, 2020

Unless there is a specific order, the weavers don't make one. So tsuzure could be more valuable than other woven fabrics, as decribed in an excerpt from an interview with Mrs. Fuwa in the Artistic Handloom Weaver, via the Ardent Thread.

Artists use a shuttle and a comb in order to weave in this way, along with their serated nails, if they have them — not everyone who uses the method files their nails.

The ancient method is most common in the Shiga prefecture and has ties to the Muromachi period (between 1336 and 1573), and this particular method has been in use in Japan for around 1,000 years, per Colossal.

You can learn how the method works by watching the video below: