Kumejima tsumugi (久米島紬) is a silk pongee from Kumejima, an island west of Okinawa’s Main Island, known for deep, lustrous browns and blacks and its kasuri patterns. Its thread is spun by hand from silk floss, dyed only with plants that grow on the island and mordanted in iron-rich mud, then beaten with heavy wooden mallets to bring up a soft sheen. One weaver carries each piece through the whole process. It is a national Traditional Craft and an Important Intangible Cultural Property, and you can see it made and try dyeing or weaving at the Yuimāru-kan on Kumejima.
This page is part of our guide to Ryukyuan textiles, which compares all of Okinawa’s woven and dyed crafts.
Kumejima Tsumugi at a Glance
| Japanese | 久米島紬 (Kumejima tsumugi); sold as 本場久米島紬 (honba Kumejima tsumugi, “genuine Kumejima tsumugi”) |
| Fibre | Silk; tsumugi thread hand-spun from silk floss (真綿) |
| Dyes | Island plants only: gūru (sarutori-ibara), techi (sharinbai), yūna (sea hibiscus), yamamomo (bayberry), kurubō, fukugi and others, with mud mordanting |
| Made in | Kumejima Town |
| Designations | Okinawa Prefecture traditional craft product (1974); national Traditional Craft, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (17 February 1975); Important Intangible Cultural Property, holding group Kumejima Tsumugi Holding Group (2 September 2004) |
| Cooperative | Kumejima Tsumugi Business Cooperative (久米島紬事業協同組合), founded 1970 |
History
Kumejima’s silk goes back a long way. The prefecture says sericulture was introduced from China in the late 15th century by a local figure known as Dōnohiya (堂之比屋), and that in the early 17th century the royal government sent Sakamoto Fuki and Tomoyose Keiyū to teach weaving, laying the foundations of the craft. The designation summary notes that silkworms were being raised on Kumejima by the 15th century.
From the 17th century Kumejima tsumugi was designated tribute cloth. Under strict royal supervision, it was woven to designs in the mi-ezu-chō (御絵図帳), the court pattern books, until the tribute system ended with the land-tax reform of 1903. Free production then grew quickly: by 1923 the island was making more than 42,000 bolts a year.
After the war the craft nearly disappeared. Around 1956 only about 150 bolts were being woven. With support from the national, prefectural and local governments, it was rebuilt into the island’s second industry after sugar cane. The cooperative was founded in 1970 and took its present name in 1977. The national Traditional Craft designation came in 1975, the prefecture designated it an Intangible Cultural Property in 1977, and in 2004 it became an Important Intangible Cultural Property.
A Year in the Life of a Bolt
The cooperative explains that work follows the farming seasons, fitted around busy times in the fields:
- April–June: raising silkworms and reeling thread from the spring cocoons.
- June–August: designing and tying the kasuri.
- September–November: dyeing, when the air is drier and the softer autumn sun protects the thread.
- December–March: weaving in the cool months.
According to the prefectural craft centre, Kumejima tsumugi still follows the tradition that a single weaver does every stage by hand.
Plant Dyes and Mud
The cooperative says Kumejima tsumugi is dyed only with plants that grow wild on the island. Thread is dipped in the dye bath again and again, so most dyeing is by soaking rather than boiling. The main colours are:
- Black-brown (煤竹色): first dyed red-brown in a decoction of chopped gūru (sarutori-ibara) root, four or five times a day for about ten days, then over-dyed with techi (sharinbai) six or seven times a day for about two weeks. The thread is then worked in fine, iron-rich mud from a pond, which acts as a mordant. Techi dyeing and mud mordanting are repeated until the right black-brown appears.
- Silver-grey (銀鼠色): from the charcoal of burnt yūna (sea hibiscus) wood, ground fine and mixed with soy milk. The thread is dyed and dried five times a day for about eight days, then finished with an alum mordant.
- Yellow and olive green: from yamamomo (bayberry) bark and kurubō bark, boiled together in a ratio of two to one. An alum mordant gives a deep reddish yellow; mud gives uguisu (bush-warbler) green.
Did you know? Kumejima tsumugi is finished by beating. Two people take turns striking the folded cloth with mallets of about 4.5 kg (10 lb), roughly 400–500 blows over 20–30 minutes, to soften it and bring out its sheen. The cooperative says the whole washing and beating finish takes about half a day.
Kasuri Motifs
Kumejima’s kasuri patterns have names drawn from everyday life. The cooperative groups them by origin: animals and plants, such as tuigwā (トゥイグワー, little bird); nature, such as buribuzā (ブリブザー); household objects, such as guban-nu-mī (グバン・ヌ・ミー); and the human body, such as chiminukata (チミヌカタ). Besides kasuri, the cooperative weaves plain, striped and check cloth, summer-weight cloth and men’s wide-width cloth. It says a bolt takes about three months to make, of which weaving alone is about one month.
Holding Group and Makers
Kumejima tsumugi was designated an Important Intangible Cultural Property on 2 September 2004, with the Kumejima Tsumugi Holding Group (久米島紬保持団体) recognised as the holding group, according to the Agency for Cultural Affairs database. The prefecture’s list as of June 2024 and the cooperative both give its representative as Tōbaru Teiko (桃原禎子), and the prefecture lists 19 members. The prefecture first recognised the group in 1977. The cooperative’s summary of the designation describes the craft as preserving techniques from the kingdom era: raising silkworms, making thread, hand-tied kasuri, natural dyeing and hand weaving, with almost all materials sourced on the island.
The cooperative lists 65 members as of March 2025, and its profile on the prefectural craft centre puts output at about 300 bolts a year, all made by hand. The prefecture counted about 100 people working in the craft in 2022.
Visiting the Yuimāru-kan
Kumejima Tsumugi no Sato Yuimāru-kan (久米島紬の里 ユイマール館) is the cooperative’s base, with a museum on the history and process, a working weaving floor, a shop selling bolts available only there as well as accessories, and dyeing and weaving experiences for adults and children. You take home what you make.
- Address: 1878-1 Maja, Kumejima Town (久米島町字真謝1878-1); nearest bus stop: Maja
- Hours: 9:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30). Weaving floor viewing 9:00–11:45 and 13:30–16:30.
- Experiences: reception 10:00–11:30 and 13:30–16:00 (dyeing until 11:00 and 15:30).
- Closed: the museum, shop and experiences close on Wednesdays. The whole facility closes on 29 December, 1 and 3 January, the 16th day of the first lunar month and lunar Obon.
- Admission: adults ¥200, elementary and junior high school students ¥100; free for Kumejima residents with ID. Phone: 098-985-8333.
Kumejima is reached by plane or ferry from Naha; see our getting around guide.
Practical details in this section last checked: Oct 2026.
How to Tell Authentic Kumejima Tsumugi
The cooperative says every bolt of Kumejima tsumugi made on the island carries a set of labels:
- Okinawa Prefecture textile inspection label (沖縄県織物検査済之証), stamped with a grade seal after inspection under the prefecture’s ordinance.
- Cooperative label, always marked 久米島紬事業協同組合証票 at the bottom centre.
- Traditional Craft mark showing it is the nationally designated craft.
- Traditional craft product label (伝統工芸品之証).
According to the prefecture, the cooperative also registered honba Kumejima tsumugi as a regional brand trademark in fiscal 2006.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Kumejima tsumugi?
Kumejima tsumugi is a hand-woven silk pongee from Kumejima, dyed only with island plants and mud and finished by beating with wooden mallets. It is a national Traditional Craft and an Important Intangible Cultural Property.
Why is Kumejima tsumugi dark brown?
Its classic black-brown comes from layers of gūru and techi (sharinbai) plant dyes, followed by repeated mordanting in iron-rich mud.
Can I try making Kumejima tsumugi?
Yes. The Yuimāru-kan on Kumejima offers dyeing and weaving experiences for adults and children. The museum, shop and experiences are closed on Wednesdays.
How do I know Kumejima tsumugi is genuine?
Look for the prefectural textile inspection label, the cooperative’s label marked 久米島紬事業協同組合証票, and the national Traditional Craft mark.
Who holds the Important Intangible Cultural Property for Kumejima tsumugi?
The Kumejima Tsumugi Holding Group, recognised in 2004. Its representative is Tōbaru Teiko, according to the prefecture and the cooperative.
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
- Kumejima Tsumugi Business Cooperative: dyeing and the seasonal cycle (Japanese)
- Kumejima Tsumugi Business Cooperative: finishing and mallet beating (Japanese)
- Kumejima Tsumugi Business Cooperative: kasuri names (Japanese)
- Kumejima Tsumugi Business Cooperative: Important Intangible Cultural Property (Japanese)
- Kumejima Tsumugi Business Cooperative: product labels (Japanese)
- Kumejima Tsumugi no Sato Yuimāru-kan: visitor information (Japanese)
- Okinawa Kōgei no Mori: Kumejima Tsumugi (prefectural craft centre, Japanese)
- Okinawa Kōgei no Mori: Kumejima Tsumugi Business Cooperative (prefectural craft centre, Japanese)
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Kumejima Tsumugi (official, Japanese)
- Okinawa Prefecture: Overview of craft industry policy, FY2024 (production-area profiles and holder lists as of June 2024) (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.