![\"Yuki](\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/21003946\/voyapon_ibaraki-yuki_silk-2-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>Yuki City Gallery of Traditional Arts and Crafts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n I started this trip headed to the Yuki City Gallery of Traditional Arts and Crafts<\/a><\/strong> \u7d50\u57ce\u5e02\u4f1d\u7d71\u5de5\u82b8\u9928, which is a combination educational center for learning about Yuki\u2019s centuries-old method of silk-making. There are over 40 steps involved in Yuki’s silk making process, of which 3 can be learned at the the gallery: yarn spinning, ground weaving, and knotting. The process, indigenous to Yuki and dubbed Yuki-tsumugi<\/a><\/em> \u7d50\u57ce\u7d2c, was named a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage<\/strong> in 2010. At the Yuki Information + Communication center, you can rent a kimono or purchase silk products such as scarves and wallets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/21003957\/voyapon_ibaraki-yuki_silk-3-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>The interior of the Yuki City Gallery of Traditional Arts and Crafts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\nUpon entering the gallery I was struck by how streamlined and efficient Yuki-tsumugi<\/em> seemed. There was no machinery, and no noise at all except the clicks and clacks of wooden looms controlled by the intensely focused craftsmen, and the squeaks of puffy silk being pulled and twisted into individual threads. I was awestruck by how easy the entire process looked in the hands of experts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/21004018\/voyapon_ibaraki-yuki_silk-5-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li>![\"Silk](\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/21004029\/voyapon_ibaraki-yuki_silk-6-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li>![\"A](\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/21004112\/voyapon_ibaraki-yuki_silk-10-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>Silk, silk threads, and silk patterns<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\nOne set of craftsmen sat on looms, and the other set pulled silk into threads. I was told by my guide that, interestingly enough, pulling silk into threads was the more difficult of the two disciplines, and left literally in the hands of the most veteran craftsmen. Because it takes about 34 kilometers of individual threads to make one single piece of fabric used for an item like a kimono, the individuals involved in this step of the process have to demonstrate immense patience. As an educational center, the gallery had actual cocoons from silkworms available to examine, and charts and pictures to help explain the entire process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Silk](\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/21004007\/voyapon_ibaraki-yuki_silk-4-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>Silkworm cocoons and silk before it’s made into thread<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\nI had the chance to take part in this historically venerable craft. I was shown a couple selections of simple designs for square coasters and given the chance to make one myself, by hand, in the Yuki-tsumugi tradition. I sat on a loom, had a belt tied around my back, and another rope tied to one of my feet. The processes of weaving involved first passing a wooden board \u2013 with a thread tied around it \u2013 through a double layer of thread (with the base color for the coaster) that stretched up to the loom itself. I tapped into place the thread connected to the wooden board, passed it through to the other side of the loom, and then back through \u2013 tap, tap<\/em> \u2013 to the other. The gallery\u2019s guide and a master craftsman helped me at every step. It was extremely painstaking, and also physically tiring (even just for a coaster), but once I found a good rhythm I was able to move forward at a nice pace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/21004100\/voyapon_ibaraki-yuki_silk-9-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>A traditional Yuki-tsumugi loom controlled by a master<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\nIn the end, I finished my coaster in about an hour and a half and left with a wonderful memory tucked into a plastic bag, which I\u2019m honestly quite proud of having made. For such a unique experience, it\u2019s worth taking a trip to the gallery and trying your hand at a fantastically detailed craft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Silk](\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/30232043\/ibaraki-yuki_silk-12-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>![\"Sake](\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/21003751\/voyapon_ibaraki-yuki_sake-2-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/21003801\/voyapon_ibaraki-yuki_sake-3-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>![\"Chimney](\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/21003820\/voyapon_ibaraki-yuki_sake-5-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li>![\"Sake](\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/21003831\/voyapon_ibaraki-yuki_sake-6-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/21003842\/voyapon_ibaraki-yuki_sake-7-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>![\"Final](\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/21003853\/voyapon_ibaraki-yuki_sake-8-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>![\"Grades](\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/21003914\/voyapon_ibaraki-yuki_sake-10-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li>![\"Tray](\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/21003903\/voyapon_ibaraki-yuki_sake-9-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li>![\"High-grade](\"https:\/\/s3.voyapon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/21003925\/voyapon_ibaraki-yuki_sake-11-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>