Kigami and Kami-ito: Japanese Handmade Paper and Paper Thread by Hiroko Karuno.
Among the many rich textile traditions of Japan, one of the most intriguing is shifu, a cloth woven with paper thread. Shifu was developed by poor people in need of warm clothing, but over time it was refined by skilled weavers into an elegant alternative to other textiles. What makes shifu so remarkable is the material from which it is woven, and in this lavishly illustrated book Hiroko Karuno reveals the intricate method of producing kami-ito, thread spun from sheets of handmade paper, or kigami.
In both English and Japanese she describes the making of kigami by a professional papermaker, plus preparing the paper for spinning, spinning the thread, and finishing the skeins in preparation for weaving. Kigami and Kami-Ito, the first bilingual book of its kind, fulfills the author's commitment to preserving the knowledge of this extraordinary textile tradition.
Hiroko Karuno is an expert spinner, weaver, and dyer who has exhibited her shifu and taught numerous workshops in Japan and in Canada. She lives in Toronto.
- 87 pages
- 26cm x 19cm
- English, Japanese
- Shikosha Publishing (2017)
- ISBN 9784879406262