白鷹紬

 もう11月だというのに、東京はまだ暑い日が続いているのです。

今週6日の月曜日の予想気温は25度。迷わず単衣の着物を選びお茶のお稽古へ。

この単衣の紬、例年だと6月に着るのですが‥

11月に単衣の着物に麻の長襦袢って、ホント着物警察に捕まったら即逮捕ですw

10年ほど前に買ったちょっと幅の広い半幅帯をパタパタ結びにしました。

半幅帯はラクで、こういう季節外れの暑い日にはもってこいです。

着物は例によって母の若い頃着ていたもの。

備後屋の創業後間も無い頃というので、昭和40年頃（1965年頃）でしょうか。

備後屋で販売をしていた白鷹紬という山形県置賜（おいたま）地方の紬です。

残念ながら今はその工房は無くなってしまいましたが、今も何軒か工房があります。白鷹紬は年間100反ほどしか生産されず市場ではほとんど出回らないので着物ファンの間では「幻の紬」と呼ばれているそうです。

置賜地方の米沢、長井、白鷹近郊は江戸時代初頭から、織物の原料となる青苧（あおそ）を栽培して越後方面に出荷する原料生産地でした。江戸後期になると、自給自足の織物産地を目指して、青苧を使った麻織物づくりを開始、ちぢれ織を開発しました。その後凶作により青苧織を中断し養蚕を奨励、絹織物生産へと方向を転換しました。

明治期に入ると先進地から技術者を招き、高度な絣技術を開発し、全国有数の絹織物産地に成長しました。戦中・戦後は化学繊維や輸入品の素材を使い、織りも機械化しましたが、昔ながらの草木染を手織りで行う染織家が置賜地方には存在しました。

その中の一軒がこの着尺を制作した工房なのです。

古代米琉紬と呼ばれる紅花染をしていると思われます。

この着物は桃色がかった薄紫色ですが、光の加減や写真を撮ると、全体的に黄色が見え隠れするのです。

なんとも不思議な色合いとざっくりとした糸でムラのある織りが絶妙な風合いを生み出していて、素朴ながらも品格漂い素晴らしい布だと感じます。

これからも大切に着ていきたい貴重な着物です。

Even though it's already November, the days are still hot in Tokyo.

The predicted temperature for Monday the 6th of this week is 25 degrees. Without hesitation, I chose a Hitoe kimono and went to the tea ceremony lesson.

Normally, I would wear this single kimono in June...

In November, if I wore a single kimono with a hemp long nagajyuban under it, if I was caught by the kimono police, I would be arrested immediately.

I tied a slightly wide half-width obi that I bought about 10 years ago into a flapping knot.

The half-width obi is comfortable and perfect for unseasonably hot days like this.

As usual, the kimono was that my mother wore when she was young.

It was not long after Bingoya was founded, so it must have been around 1965 (around 1965).

This kimono from the Oitama region of Yamagata Prefecture is called Shirataka Tsumugi, which was sold at Bingoya.

Unfortunately, that manufacture no longer exists, but there are still several manufactures. Only about 100 pieces of Shirataka Tsumugi are produced each year, and it is rarely seen on the market, so it is called the ``phantom kimono'' by kimono fans.

Since the early Edo period, the areas around Yonezawa, Nagai, and Shirataka in the Okitama region have been a production area for raw materials for textiles, such as aoso, which were cultivated and shipped to the Echigo region. In the late Edo period, with the aim of becoming a self-sufficient textile production area, the city began making hemp textiles using aoso and developed the wavy weave. Later, due to poor harvests, they stopped producing aoso, encouraged sericulture, and turned to producing silk textiles.

In the Meiji period, engineers were invited from advanced regions to develop advanced Kasuri techniques, and the area grew to become one of the nation's leading silk textile producing areas. During and after the war, chemical fibers and imported materials were used, and weaving became mechanized, but there were still dyers and weavers in the Okitama region who practiced traditional vegetable dyeing by hand.

One of them is the manufacture where this kimono was made.

It is thought to be dyed with safflower, which is called ancient Yonekyu Tsurugi.

This kimono is a light purple color with a hint of peach, but depending on the lighting or when I take a photo, the yellow color can be seen or hidden throughout.

The mysterious colors and uneven weave of coarse threads create an exquisite texture, and I feel that it is a wonderful cloth that has a simple yet elegant feel.

This is a precious kimono that I will continue to cherish.

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