Tango Textile

“Tango Textile”

Tango is located on the northern coast of Kyoto prefecture. Blessed with the ocean, paddy fields, and mountains, the air is charged with moisture brought by the northwest wind called “uranishi” creating a wet and rainy climate.

This climate gives ideal conditions for silk-weaving, as silk is dry-sensitive and needs to be kept wet. Tango has been the central hub of the weaving industry where a wide variety of weavers, business unions, research institutes, and its related artisans are closely concentrated.

Even now, weaving is still rooted in people’s lives in Tango. Shuttle looms sound at a constant pace from old traditional wooden houses to make you feel that weaving is a part of life for local people in Tango.

“Hard-Twisted”

The most distinctive feature of Tango textile is known as the twisting technique.Although twisting threads is normally done 500 to 1,000 t/m, Tango weavers use around 2,000 to 4,000 t/m twisted threads intentionally. This technique is mainly used for enhancing strength and the weavability of threads,

Handling hard-twisted threads requires expert skills and knowledge of twisting, tension control, density adjustment, etc.However, Tango weavers, using techniques that have lasted 1,300 years, easily handle hard-twisted threads and produce highly varied and unique textiles.

Hard-twisted thread “roughens” the fabric’s surface, which creates rich texture with depth and a three-dimensional appearance.Furthermore, due to Tango chirimen’s bumpy texture made by hard twisted threads, it holds the following;

・Rich drape

・Less prone to wrinkling

・Deep tone diffusing light in a different way.