Weave　(p. 145 )

1. Produced in Yonagunimachi(Yonaguni Island), Yaeyamagun, Okinawa Prefecture.

2. Characteristics: A kind of figured cloth in which 9 wide horizontal stripes are woven with colored threads (of dark blue, red, light brown, yellow, black and so on). Checkered designs appear on both sides.

3. Uses: Hand towels.

4. History: As Yonaguni Island is isolated, there was no such fabric as Kasuri which was popular in other islands, but a unique striped fabric developed here. The "Tesaji" was woven as a "hand towel of affection" in which people wished their families safe voyage and travel, and as a "hand towel of love" in which a young woman expressed her love to a man. It was used as a decoration to be put on shoulders or over the head. It was woven with hemp or "Basho" threads in the past but with cotton threads today.