The juni-hitoe is a traditional Japanese costume from the 10th century made of at least twelve layered silk kimonos. Sappanwood dye was often used to color the silk fabric, although it was subject to fading. In this study, silk was dyed with sappanwood and treated with various mordants. The dyed fabrics were examined for color fastness. Color fading due to ultraviolet rays was particularly high for the aluminum-based mordant, and the color of the silk was projected to fade within about four to six months of sunlight exposure. Alkaline perspiration had a relatively large effect on color fading ; in particular, a reddish color was transferred to a superimposed white fabric. However, when using an iron ion mordant, the degree of decoloration was relatively small. <br>These investigations show that silk fabric dyed with sappanwood easily fades in color due to various environmental factors, and color transfer to superimposed fabric is frequently seen. These findings afford insight into the color life of such fabrics during Japan’s Heian period. Thus, the costumes at the time presumably required periodic redyeing.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate thermal wearing comfort of underwear made by blended yarn with polypropylene(PP). As a result of a wearing experiment, comfort factors of PP underwear were extracted as thermal and water transport property and skin contact feeling. By combining PP with modified cross-section polyester, sweat could be transferred to outside of clothing and its thermal insulation property prevented cooling body. The useful underwear materials could be made by adding the water transport property with the structural approach to PP.

Ramie fabrics are often used for apparel, especially summer clothing. They have many interesting characteristics, such as durable properties for heavy use and cool contact feelings. In this study, we focused on the improvement of hard handling and poor resiliency of ramie fabrics. We modified ramie fabrics by light TEMPO oxidation and examined the effect of the oxidation on their texture. By TEMPO oxidation, a few carboxyl groups may be introduced to thesurfaceoframiefibers.Thedegree of introduction was about one seventh of the case of the preparation of cellulose nanofibers by TEMPO oxidation[1] . TEMPO oxidation of ramie fabrics gave low bending stiffness and good drape properties, and as the result, ramie fabrics showed softer handlings and better flexibility.