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HISTORY It was a traveling priest who taught the villagers The beginning was about 400 years ago when a traveling priest visited Oguchi Fukase village and taught the villagers how to weave hats with cypress strips. At the time, the population of the village was increasing but the farming land was limited to support the increasing population. Cypress weaving gave villagers opportunities to earn extra income. By the middle term of the Edo period, cypress woven hats were widely used by farmers and weaving hats had become the important source of income. In 1931 Cypress Hats Purchasing Union (later it became Cypress Hats Industrial Cooperative Association) was formed and cooperative factories were built. The production increased steadily. Colorful hats were manufactured for exporting to USA. Cypress weaving was also adapted in folk crafts such as ajiro ceilings, baskets, flower vases, etc. CHARACTERISTICS Beauty is in the handicrafts to weave cypress strips The materials of cypress weaving is thin strips (hegi or hin-na) of cypress wood. The strips are woven to make articles. By mechanization, hin-nas are produced in mass today, but weaving hin-na is still done by hands, and it takes skills. Currently articles such as cypress hats, sheaths for hatchets, back-packs, baskets, waste baskets, flower vases are being manufactured. Ajiro ceiling is a pattern weaving and is used in the Folk Museum of Oguchi village. Ajiro ceiling is also seen in the temples in Kanazawa City and Komatsu City. |
