Presentation Textile with Japanese Culture Hiroko Watanabe Interior textile Design Prof. Emeritus Tama Art University My speech is titled as "Textile with Japanese Culture" with a little exaggeration, however I am afraid that the subject may be too big to cover every relevant nature in the limited twenty minutes. I would rather talk from the view of "Japanese life and textile" or "textile in our life." Now I would like you to take "fabric" as a term meaning textile products in general, not merely a piece of cloth as a fabric. I. Touching between Textile and Human Beings A baby is wrapped and cleansed of humors with a piece of cloth right after he/she was born. This can be asserted as a human being's first encounter with fabric. Babies are raised to become adults, spending their whole life and facing death some day in the benefit from textile. At the moment, the face of the dead is covered with a piece of cloth. The cloth represents our awe to the dead and protection of the dead from something evil, it is also deemed as the very fabric bordering life and death in purifying one's spirit while the one's was in this world, and as the symbol of solemn death as well. Cremated ashes are put into an urn and wrapped with a piece of white cloth. This is another fabric which we encounter at the end of our life. II. Weaving Textile is the Origin of Industries. As far as people are in the world of perpetuated life and death, in any race, they are meeting with many cloths, producing them, using them and continuing to live. Evolving from using bark and animal skins, human intelligence found techniques of using fibers by spinning, tying, fabricating, weaving, knitting of them. I believe that from that time on, human beings might have developed human emotion. A loop band is said to be the beginning of fashion, namely the origin of wears. Also tying is the origin of a joint, and the tying has developed into connectors such as nails, hinges, bars alike. In another word, it can be said as the origin of design. Moreover, the production technique of spinning became starting point of professions and industries. The Industrial Revolution that spearheaded modern times also started with spinning. III. Fiber is a Human Material These days, not only natural fibers such as the cotton, flax, silk and wool, but also various synthetic fiber have been invented and they have made most advanced front line of high polymer chemistry. Getting re-attention in recent years to natural fabric materials, that have long supported our daily life, is the reflection of emergence of high performance fiber and optic fiber responding to new market needs, however, on the other hand, because people have realized that the organic characteristics and texture of natural fiber give people comfort and easiness. To my knowledge, it is said that human beings are made from fiber, water and protein. Human beings are the very living organism, and other creatures, animals and plants are all made from fibrous substances. So that we can call fiber as an oldest yet newest materials related to the emergence of life. Human beings eat fiber, wear fiber, and sleep wrapped in fiber. These days, artificial veins and internal organs are also made from fiber. The field called ﾒMed-Textileﾓ is this. In this sense, it is not mere exaggeration to call textile as a most human and closest material and the second skin to human beings. It has been a long time since a fiber containing drink commercially named "Fibe-mini" was introduced for vending machines in town. Today even a sparkle drink named "Nama-Shibori (squeezed fresh) FIBER" is selling. People know the fiber is good for their health. IV. Reclaiming Human Roles and Recurrence to Nature through Textile While the development of civilization has brought richness and benefited human beings, it has started alienating human beings and deteriorating the earth. I believe that human beings in their hectic daily life have started reclaiming their roles and wanted recurring to nature, and for that fiber and textile as human materials are being re-appreciated. V. Spirit and Technology Inherited in Traditional Dying and Weaving I have been talking to myself and contemplating societies through textile as my professional field. In Japan, there is the fantastic tradition of dying and weaving culture such as for kimonos and the costume for Noh play alike. In these area, the spirit and technique of our forerunners, who loved nature and materials, have been well working. They spun threads from plants' fiber and cocoons, weaving them into cloths and dyed them by colors given by nature. I like the practice of dying. Because I am attracted by the mystery of colors emitted by dyes deeply permeating into materials, different from painting colors on a surface of something. When I look back, my professional start was set when I was attracted by the almost limitless possibility of a single thread and the mystery of colors that dye things by sucking the essence of the earth. Yellow cloths dyed by gardenia nuts were used for wrapping an important thing. Because they deter bugs. It is said that when the samurai went war, they wore in underwear dyed in indigo underneath their armors, and believed it was good for preventing war wounds from suppuration. Mountain climbers prefer to wear in wool underwear, because they know that the wear works well for keeping bodily temperature in case they are caught in distress. Silk materialﾕs mysterious remedy on atopic dermatitis and its performance cutting off ultraviolet rays have been widely known. VI. ISSEY MIYAKE and DAI FUJIWARA Many of you probably saw "A-POC Exhibition" by Issey Miyake and Dai Fujiwara at AXIS of Roppongi held a couple of days ago. I am sure Finnish delegates here also saw it, didn't you? ISSEY has utilized Japanese Kimono concept for his idea sources. Namely he has taken kimonoﾕs plane nature into three dimensionally cut Western clothes. So that his dress developed from the concept "From a plane clothe" makes three dimensional object by wearing it and the approach expressed in a beautiful silhouette is in good use. I hope you could enjoy seeing a latest venue of creative works such as the expression of texture by combining natural materials such as cotton, silk and wool together with synthetic materials, and his challenges to adapt traditional braded rope to industrialized processes. VII. The Future Learned from Nature Of course I do not necessarily deny synthetic fiber and chemical dye. Each of them has distinctive advantage and performance . As once a commercial catch phrase "From Diapers to Space Suits" attracted people's attention, super fiber and optical fiber will serve us for our future. These highly advanced materials are also a must for many products ranging from automobile bodies and tiers, structures of civil engineering and architecture to space facilities. If it were not for the roof structure fabricated by glass fiber membrane, people would not be able to enjoy a baseball game in a rainy day. However, we still have many things we have to learn from natural systems. There seems to be almost no limit of our prospect and dreams on next generation fiber represented in scientific challenge in Biomimetics and development of a spiderﾕs thread and others. Japanese have history and culture of co-existing with and to value nature. Finnish even have stronger conviction and love on nature than Japanese in their cultural foundation. It is very meaningful that the two countries with similar identity will hold the symposium. VIII. Textile and Environment In 1997, I received a letter from Quopio Academy of Design in Finland. The letter was an invitation to the international conference titled "TEXTILE ENVIRONMENT." The theme of the conference was to discuss about an approach to creating things for next generation by examining correlations between human beings and fiber materials and current situation of fiber technology. The indication of the conference, held in advance in Finland where I only thought that they needed no worry about environmental crisis for their advanced ecological awareness, gave me big stimulation and excitement. To be prepared for the conference, I investigated current Japanese situation. I just re-educated myself about the prospect of the correlation between human beings and fiber materials, and current recycle situation. After that, environmental issues have deeply occupied my awareness. In February 1998, Nagano Prefecture Japan hosted the 18th Winter Olympic Games with the theme "Coexistence with beautiful nature." At the occasion, a fashion show for the game's official staff wears titled "For the earth" was held. The show was the world first try of complete recycled materials from nylon 6-100% including buttons and zippers alike. And then, the social magnitude of the try, progress of the research and use of bio-degradable synthetic fiber alike, has risen. However, we, as a creator, have to make ourselves aware of our obligation and responsibility to promote the recycle. I believe that the design symposium, organized by creators of both Finland and Japan, with the theme "Designing the Quietness" is very timely one. IX. Coexistence with Rich Nature I would like to contemplate the profound issue of what is human beings, in the real world filled with stirring information and noise, and re-ask myself how I have to contribute to human beings for better human life and to make the beautiful and rich earth sustainable. X. My Work - The Wind of Opto Lastly I would like to show you my latest work for the conclusion of my lecture. I titled the work as "The Wind of Opto." Right now, I have been interested in the formative expression with the combination of technology and sensibility. The work is an artistic installation structured with optical fibers encased in plastic tubes and LED. The wind is a natural phenomenon which is symbolic of telling us four seasons by conveying various phenomenon, opening a new time and raising the atmosphere of innovation. With such meaning I made wind as the theme, by utilizing new materials and technology, I tried to symbolically express the nostalgic scene of grasses flickering in the wind. I will be happy if you grasp my suggestion in the work toward the future. Secretariat Japan Finland Design Association (Japan) c/o The Finnish Institute in Japan 3-5-39 Minami Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan 106-8561 c/o GK Graphics Incorporated telephone : 03-5952-6831 facsimile : 03-5952-6832 e-mail : jfda@gk-design.co.jp previous