The Establishment and Development of Traditional Cotton Dyeing and Weaving in Niigata.

─ On the Relationship Between Katakai momen and Mingei

Abstract

In Niigata Prefecture, there is a traditional dyed textile called Katakai momen. It has been found that the birth of Katakai momen is in no small part related to the “Mingei” movement advocated by Yanagi Muneyoshi and others in the 1920s. This paper focuses on the establishment and development of Katakai momen in the Ojiya region of Niigata Prefecture, and discusses in detail the interactions between Yanagi Yoshitaka, and examines how the Mingei ideas through Yanagi Yoshitaka influenced Niigata's dyed textiles. As a result, Yanagi sought to create high-quality products by making full use of new ways of using machines, rather than just using traditional hand-weaving methods, and Katakai momen was born in collaboration with Nishiwaki Shinjiro and Matsui Kiheita. Considering this history, I can point out that the new initiatives that Yanagi Yoshitaka, who was based on the idea of Mingei, were also developed and expanded in Niigata's dyed and woven products.