A 50-square-meter patch of field and 100 cotton trees. That's all that Jin Shirai needs to make his living.
Shirai is a weaver, though the term only represents part of what he actually does. As a craftsperson who creates from scratch, his work starts in spring when he plants wamen (Japanese cotton) seeds. Throughout summer he personally takes care of the field and in autumn he harvests the cotton, removes the seeds and hand spins it into yarn. After countless other small procedures and, when necessary, dyeing the yarn, he finally starts weaving.
In Japan's textile industry, there are weavers who specialize in and only weave for a living, while most dyers only dye and spinners spin. For large-scale production, it's more efficient, especially since each process demands high levels of skill, training and expertise. Shirai's approach to fabric making, however, is unusually holistic.
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