Weave　(p. 100 )

1. Produced in Echigawamachi, Hatanoshomachi Echigun, Shiga Prefecture.

2. Characteristics: Quality hemp fabric with fine wrinkle and designs of splash patterns. Hemp is bleached in the water of Lake Biwa, dyed and plain woven.

3. Uses: Summer clothes.

4. History: Hemp had been planted widely in this area since olden days and hemp fabric was used as an item for presents and souvenirs by the name of "Takamiya Nuno"(cloth in Takamiya, the area around Hikone City today). In the Edo Period, the local feudal government supported the production by establishing a research office in 1780ﾕs. In the end of the Edo Period, new fabrics were woven with threads which were dyed with the wood plate process. It made this area very popular as a big center producing hemp fabrics. Hand spun threads had been traditionally used, however, they were replaced with spun flax around 1878 and with ramie threads towards the end of the Meiji Era.