Chijimi

Echigo chijimi, a specialty of Uonuma district, is a fine crepe woven from the thread of ramie.

The work of making chijimi is done in the snow season. Fibers are taken from the bark of ramie cut in autumn, and through the winter, in houses shut in by snow, women split them finely and join them one by one with their fingernails into thread. This is called "oumi." It is work that takes a staggering amount of patience.

When the thread is ready, it is set on the loom and woven. Echigo chijimi thread breaks easily and cannot be woven well except in very damp air. Inside a winter house shut in by snow, the humidity is just right, perfect for weaving chijimi.

The finished cloth is washed in snowmelt and spread out on the snow on clear days to bleach. This is called "yukizarashi," snow bleaching. Laid on the snow, the cloth turns white and beautiful through the sunlight and the vapors given off as the snow melts. In early spring, the sight of white cloth laid in rows across an endless field of snow is a view found only in snow country.

Spun into thread in the snow, woven in the snow, washed in snowmelt, bleached on the snow: because there is snow, there is chijimi. Echigo chijimi is a specialty born half of snow and half of human patience. The snow of Uonuma should be called the parent of chijimi.