Yaeyama kōfu (八重山交布), better known locally as gunbō (ぐんぼう), is the everyday cloth of the Yaeyama Islands: a cross-woven fabric with a warp of one fibre and a weft of another. Typically the warp is cotton or silk and the weft is ramie, banana fibre (bashō) or silk. Where Yaeyama jōfu was woven as tribute for the royal government, gunbō was what people actually wore. It is an Okinawa Prefecture traditional craft product, made in Ishigaki and Taketomi, and today it is also used for shirts and stoles.
This page is part of our guide to Ryukyuan textiles, which compares all of Okinawa’s woven and dyed crafts.
Yaeyama Kōfu at a Glance
| Japanese | 八重山交布 (Yaeyama kōfu), read gunbō (グンボウ, ぐんぼう) locally; kōfu means “cross-woven cloth” |
| What it is | A union cloth (交織布) with warp and weft of different fibres |
| Fibres | Warp: cotton or silk. Weft: ramie (often hand-spliced), bashō, silk and others |
| Patterns | Techniques and patterns are the same as Yaeyama jōfu, with stripes and kasuri |
| Made in | Ishigaki City and Taketomi Town |
| Designation | Okinawa Prefecture traditional craft product (伝統工芸製品), designated 12 June 1998. Not a national Traditional Craft |
Everyday Cloth, Not Tribute Cloth
The Ishigaki maker Azamiya explains that gunbō, unlike the jōfu presented to the Ryukyu court, has long been part of everyday life in Yaeyama and was valued as a practical kimono fabric. Under the head tax, fine ramie jōfu went to the government; mixing fibres made a sturdy, comfortable cloth for the family’s own use.
A 2023 report by the Okinawa broadcaster QAB describes kōfu as cloth made by mixing ramie or cotton with the thread left over from weaving jōfu, and as the everyday clothing of ordinary people in the Yaeyama Islands.
Did you know? Azamiya points out that the character of gunbō depends on how the fibres are combined. A cotton warp with a ramie weft feels different from silk with bashō, so weavers can tune the cloth’s weight, texture and comfort simply by choosing the threads.
Materials and Technique
According to the regional brand entry in the Kotobank dictionary, Yaeyama kōfu uses the same techniques and patterns as Yaeyama jōfu. The difference is the thread: silk or cotton for the warp, and bashō or hand-spliced ramie for the weft. Azamiya also lists silk among the weft fibres. The prefecture groups it with Okinawa’s kasuri textiles, alongside Miyako jōfu, Yaeyama jōfu and Yaeyama minsā.
For how Yaeyama’s ramie and plant dyes are prepared, see our Yaeyama jōfu guide; for banana fibre, see Kijoka bashōfu.
Gunbō Today
Azamiya says gunbō is now woven not only as kimono cloth but also, with more refined colours and patterns, as fabric for high-quality hand-woven shirts and stoles.
On Iriomote, the dyer Ishigaki Akiko (石垣昭子) has been making kōfu since the 1980s, starting from growing the plants herself at her Kūru Kōbō (紅露工房) workshop, according to QAB. A 2023 exhibition by D&DEPARTMENT in Okinawa City presented her kōfu and the island life around it, including uchikui wrapping cloths pieced together from scraps.
Where to See and Buy Gunbō
On Ishigaki, Azamiya’s Minsā Kōgeikan sells gunbō alongside minsā and Yaeyama jōfu. The free Ishigaki City Traditional Crafts Hall in Tonoshiro covers Yaeyama’s textiles more generally; see our Yaeyama jōfu page for its hours. We could not find a public showroom dedicated to kōfu, so contact makers before travelling. For the islands, see our Ishigaki and Iriomote guides.
Practical details in this section last checked: Oct 2026.
How to Tell Authentic Yaeyama Kōfu
Yaeyama kōfu is a prefectural, not a national, traditional craft, so it does not carry the national Traditional Craft label. We could not find a published list of labels for it. Ask the maker what the warp and weft are made of: genuine gunbō is woven by hand in Yaeyama with different fibres in warp and weft.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is gunbō?
Gunbō, or Yaeyama kōfu, is a cross-woven cloth from the Yaeyama Islands with a warp of cotton or silk and a weft of ramie, banana fibre or silk.
How is Yaeyama kōfu different from Yaeyama jōfu?
Jōfu is fine ramie cloth once woven as tribute. Kōfu uses the same techniques and patterns but mixes fibres, and was the everyday cloth of ordinary people.
Is Yaeyama kōfu a national Traditional Craft?
No. It is an Okinawa Prefecture traditional craft product, designated in 1998.
Where can I buy gunbō?
On Ishigaki, Azamiya’s Minsā Kōgeikan sells gunbō. Some makers on Iriomote also weave kōfu.
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 sources
- Okinawa Prefecture: Overview of craft industry policy, FY2024 (list of prefectural traditional craft products) (official, Japanese)
- Okinawa Prefecture: Traditional craft ordinance designation tables (official, Japanese, PDF)
Makers and other sources
- Azamiya Minsā Kōgeikan: minsā belts, Yaeyama jōfu and gunbō (Japanese)
- Kotobank: Yaeyama kōfu (gunbō), regional brand entry (Japanese)
- QAB News (28 June 2023): Yaeyama kōfu and sustainable craft (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.