Kana Kagiya - Keyakizaka

The creator of Iyo Kasuri. Born to a farmer in Imazu, Habu Village, Iyo Province (Nishigaimachi, Matsuyama City). As for the motivation for inventing Kasuri weaving, she says that when she and her husband went on a boat to visit Konpira Shrine in Sanuki Province (Kagawa Prefecture), she was moved by the sight of a passenger wearing Kurume Kasuri. She also says that when she was replacing a grass roof, she saw clearly visible rope marks remaining on the bamboo that was being held down, and this inspired her to invent it. She tied cotton threads in various places with thread, soaked them in indigo juice to dye them, and wove the threads on a loom, which came to be called Imazu Kasuri. Meanwhile, with the use of an efficient takabata loom invented by Kikuya Shinsuke, kasuri weaving became a side job for the children of farming families and townspeople in the Matsuyama castle town area. From around 1877, it spread to various regions as Iyo kasuri, eventually replacing the traditional Iyojima.

[Yoshikazu Ito]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

伊予絣(いよがすり)の創案者。伊予国垣生(はぶ)村今出(いまず)（松山市西垣生町）の農家に生まれる。絣織を考案した動機については、夫とともに讃岐(さぬき)国（香川県）金毘羅(こんぴら)宮に参詣(さんけい)するため船に乗ったとき、客のなかに久留米(くるめ)絣を着ている人を見て心を動かされたといい、また草屋根を葺(ふ)き替えるとき、押さえた竹にくっきりと縄目の斑点(はんてん)の残るのを見て案出したともいう。木綿糸のところどころを糸で縛り、藍(あい)汁に浸して染め、糸を地機(じばた)にかけて織り出し、今出絣とよばれた。一方、菊屋新助という者が考案した効率のよい高機(たかばた)を利用することにより、絣織は農家の子女や、松山城下の町家の内職となり、伊予絣として明治10年（1877）ごろから各地に広まり、やがて旧来の伊予縞(じま)にとってかわった。

［伊藤義一］

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