What is Kirijum?
What is Kirijan?
An original brand made in Kiryu, the city of textiles
Kirijum is an original brand from Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture, which has long been known for its textile and weaving industry.
Kirijum was started in order to preserve the history and traditions that have been handed down for over 1,000 years and to transmit them to the world.
We mainly make products such as Souvenir jackets in Japan.
about kiryu
What kind of city is Kiryu?
Kiryu City, home of silk-weaving in Japan
Since ancient times, the textile and weaving industries have flourished in "Kiryu, the City of Textiles.
The history of sericulture, silk spinning, and weaving has been handed down for over 1,000 years and is still being
passed down today.
The skills of the processes (design, twisting, dyeing, weaving, embroidery, sewing, and so on) that are used to make clothing and other products are concentrated in this area.
Craftsmen in each of these fields live and work in the city, which is lined with factories.
However, the number of artisans is decreasing due to a shrinking population and aging technicians.
Long-established factories have closed due to lack of successors, there is a shift to overseas production, which is cheaper and can be mass-produced, and the natural fiber industry is on the decline due to the spread of synthetic fibers...
We believe that it is our mission to break through this situation, to preserve traditional techniques, and to pass on our history, and to give back to our hometown Kiryu, and we have begun to search for "something" that can be transmitted not only domestically but also to the world.
And we came up with the idea of "All Made in Kiryu."
We wanted to do everything from the fiber to the sewing process, and to make the world aware of the charm of Kiryuu, thereby revitalizing the textile industry and increasing the number of people who will inherit the skills.
This was the impetus for the launch of "Kirijum.
silkworm culture
Sericulture activity
Silk used for our products.
We make it by our own hands from sericulture.
Sericulture industry is one of the traditions and history of Kiryu.
Silk, which can be extracted from the cocoons made by silkworms, is a natural fiber that has always been highly valued.
Breeding silkworms and producing silk is called sericulture, and was one of the major industries in Japan and in Kiryu.
However, the number of sericultural farms today has declined from 57,230 in 1989 to 228 in 2020, with 95% of them disappearing in a little over 30 years.
Gunma Prefecture, where Kiryu City is located, is responsible for nearly 40% of Japan's cocoon production, but the wave of disappearing industries is no stranger to Japan.
In order to keep this historic industry alive, we started sericulture activities in 2016.
Our cocoons are called "Gunma 200" and are harvested four times a year, producing approximately 500 kg.
Gunma 200" is a cocoon yarn that is easy to unravel and easy to dye, in addition to the thickness and color of the cocoon yarn.
and color, the ease of unraveling and dyeability of the yarn, and other characteristics.
It is widely used for high-class kimono, western-style clothing, and knit products.
Gunma 200 is one of the representative silk yarns of Gunma Silk.
Craftsman's handiwork
Craftsmanship
Everyone in Gunma Prefecture is familiar with the Kamige karuta game.
Kiryu is a town with a rich history of craftsmanship in both Japanese and Western clothing.
Kiryu is a town with a long history of craftsmanship in both Japanese and Western clothing.
There are textile mills, which are the main source of clothing production, as well as weaving mills that weave fabrics, dyeing mills that dye the woven fabrics, and textile factories that produce textiles.
Dyeing factories dye the woven fabrics, sewing factories give shape to the woven fabrics, and embroidery and print factories decorate the clothes.
embroidery and printing factories that decorate clothes, and finishing factories that press clothes to perfection.
Even today, there are many textile mills here and there.
Trust International Co.
which handles Kirijum, is a factory
that focuses on sewing and
products are sewn by the company itself.
Gorgeous embroidery is the most distinctive feature of Kirijum.
The most characteristic and gorgeous embroidery of Kirijum is the "Yoko-Furi Embroidery", a technique unique to Japan.
The embroidery technique is called "Yokoburi embroidery", a technique unique to Japan.
The embroidery is done by hand using a horizontal swinging machine with a needle that moves from side to side.
The embroidery is done by hand by a craftsman using a side-swinging sewing machine with a needle that moves left and right.
It is a technique in which craftsmanship shines through.
A pedal at the foot of the machine is used to adjust the speed of embroidery and
and the swing of the needle with the foot pedal.
The embroidery is finished by moving the hand along the pattern.
Furthermore, by layering embroidery on top of stitches that have already been sewn, the embroidery can be finished in a way that is not possible with a computerized sewing machine.
the embroidery on top of the stitches once sewn, which is not possible with a computerized sewing machine.
The embroidery is then layered on top of the stitches to create a thickness and a three-dimensional effect
The result is a beautiful embroidery that looks like a painting.
The embroidery technique, which only a skilled craftsman can perform, is a source of pride not only in Kiryu, but also in Japan.
the pride of not only Kiryu, but also of Japan.
We want the world to feel the beauty of Yoko-Furi embroidery.
