Yonaguni ori (与那国織) is the collective name for the textiles of Yonaguni, Japan’s westernmost inhabited island, about 520 km (323 miles) from Naha. It covers four kinds of cloth: delicate hanaori float weave, the striped dutati worn at festivals, the shidadi hand towel and the kagannubū belt. Records of weaving on the island go back to 1477, and it has been a national Traditional Craft since 1987. Visitors can watch weaving, buy cloth and, by reservation, try weaving at the Yonaguni Town Traditional Crafts Hall in Sonai.
This page is part of our guide to Ryukyuan textiles, which compares all of Okinawa’s woven and dyed crafts.
Yonaguni Ori at a Glance
| Japanese | 与那国織 (Yonaguni ori) |
| Four types | 与那国花織 Yonaguni hanaori; 与那国ドゥタティ dutati; 与那国シダディ shidadi; 与那国カガンヌブー kagannubū |
| Fibres | Silk, cotton, banana fibre (bashō) and ramie |
| Dyes | Fukugi, sharinbai, indigo and other plant dyes; mud dyeing is also used |
| Made in | Yonaguni Town, centred on the Sonai district |
| Designations | National Traditional Craft, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (18 April 1987). Okinawa Prefecture traditional craft products: dutati and shidadi (1974), hanaori and kagannubū (1998) |
| Cooperative | Yonaguni Town Traditional Textile Cooperative (与那国町伝統織物協同組合), active from 1970, incorporated 17 January 1983 |
The Four Textiles of Yonaguni
Yonaguni Hanaori
Hanaori (花織) is a patterned float weave, mainly silk kimono cloth woven with pattern heddles in the same way as Shuri hanaori, according to the prefecture. The Yonaguni Board of Education says it was once worn only by officials, and that its small geometric flowers have names according to their design: dachin (eight), ichichin (five) and duchin (four) flowers.
Yonaguni Dutati
Dutati (ドゥタティ) is a plain-weave cloth with stripes and checks, named after the island’s own style of garment. In the local language, dū means four and tati means tailoring, because the garment is made from four panels of cloth and, unlike a kimono, has no okumi front overlap. The Board of Education says it is made of ramie or cotton, with a plain black collar, short sleeves and a length ending a little below the knee, and that it always uses white, black and blue. More than 90% of dutati is still used on the island, where people wear it for the harvest festival and other events.
Yonaguni Shidadi
Shidadi (シダディ) is a hand towel woven in cotton or ramie with threads dyed with fukugi, sharinbai or mud, forming raised patterns. It is used mainly at rituals: women wear it on the head and men hang it at the waist, and it appears in dances too. The Board of Education adds that it is also used at the funerals of people who die after celebrating their 88th birthday.
Yonaguni Kagannubū
Kagannubū (カガンヌブー) is a narrow belt of pre-dyed cotton kasuri, woven with a weft thicker than the warp. Kagan means mirror and bū means cord. The Board of Education says its patterns sing of love between man and woman, with the miutu (夫婦, husband-and-wife) kasuri in the centre. It is mainly worn with dutati.
Did you know? The Yonaguni Board of Education says that in the years after the war, when thread was hard to get, islanders are said to have unpicked fishing nets to weave cloth.
History
The oldest record of weaving on Yonaguni comes from Korea. In 1477, castaways from Korea who drifted ashore were cared for by the islanders for six months, and their account was later recorded in the Korean royal annals (成宗実録). The cooperative quotes its line that the islanders “only weave ramie and use indigo to make cloth”. The prefecture says that from 1637 until the early Meiji era, cloth was woven intensively as tribute under the head tax, and the craft developed from there.
The cooperative was active as a voluntary group from 1970 and was incorporated in 1983, taking the Traditional Crafts Hall as its base. The national designation followed on 18 April 1987. The cooperative has 37 members, but because of ageing, moves off the island and changes of job, it says only about 20 are now active. The prefecture counted about 30 people working in Yonaguni ori in 2022.
Visiting the Traditional Crafts Hall
At the Yonaguni Town Traditional Crafts Hall (与那国町伝統工芸館) you can watch weaving and the steps that lead up to it, and buy cloth, belts, ties, bags and other small goods. Weaving experiences are available by reservation. The Board of Education says the hall was built to revive Yonaguni ori, which had died out after the war, and the hall still trains new weavers. Sources give its opening year as 1978, 1979 or 1983.
- Address: 175-2 Aza Yonaguni, Yonaguni Town (与那国町字与那国175-2), in the Sonai district, a 5-minute walk from the town hall
- Hours: weekdays 8:30–17:30; Saturdays 8:30–17:00.
- Closed: Sundays and over the New Year.
- Phone: 0980-87-2970 (also the cooperative). Parking available.
- Getting there: about 6–10 minutes by car from Yonaguni Airport, or about 25 minutes from Kubura Port.
For getting to the island, see our Yaeyama Islands guide.
Practical details in this section last checked: Oct 2026.
How to Tell Authentic Yonaguni Ori
Yonaguni ori is a national Traditional Craft, so cloth that passes inspection can carry the Traditional Craft label. The cooperative does not publish a list of its own labels online. The surest way to buy genuine Yonaguni ori is at the Traditional Crafts Hall, where the cooperative’s weavers work.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Yonaguni ori?
Yonaguni ori is the collective name for four traditional textiles of Yonaguni Island: hanaori, dutati, shidadi and kagannubū. It has been a national Traditional Craft since 1987.
What is dutati?
Dutati is Yonaguni’s striped and checked cloth and the garment made from it, sewn from four panels without a front overlap. Islanders still wear it at the harvest festival.
Can I try weaving on Yonaguni?
Yes, by reservation at the Yonaguni Town Traditional Crafts Hall in Sonai. It is open on weekdays and Saturdays and closed on Sundays and over the New Year.
How old is weaving on Yonaguni?
The earliest record is the 1477 account of Korean castaways, preserved in the Korean royal annals, which describes islanders weaving ramie dyed with indigo.
Sources & Further Reading
Facts on this page were checked against these sources. Most are official Japanese-language pages from the prefecture, the Agency for Cultural Affairs, producers’ cooperatives and museums.
Official and cooperative sources
- Okinawa Kōgei no Mori: Yonaguni Ori (prefectural craft centre, Japanese)
- Okinawa Kōgei no Mori: Yonaguni Town Traditional Textile Cooperative (history, access) (prefectural craft centre, Japanese)
- Yonaguni Town Board of Education: Traditional crafts of Yonaguni (the four textiles) (official, Japanese)
- Okinawa Prefecture Yonaguni tourism site: Traditional Crafts Hall (hours, experience) (official, Japanese)
- Okinawa Prefecture: Overview of craft industry policy, FY2024 (production-area profiles) (official, Japanese)
Image credits
No photos are used on this page yet. We only use photos with a clear, commercially usable licence, and found none we could verify for this textile.