Day two of the silkworm challenge. 

These bamboo trays (Ebira or Kago) are used to raise silkworms on. 

There is not a single respectable old farmhouse in Japan that doesn’t have a stack of these things under the rafters or in the corner of a barn. 

Japan was closed off to the rest of the world for hundreds of years. (Except for some Dutch who were allowed to trade on a small island off the coast of Kyushu.)

When Japan opened to the rest of the world they desperately wanted to avoid the fate of other Asian and African countries that were colonized and raped. They needed foreign currency and knowledge to build their country quickly before American and European interests could establish a system to exploit and control them. 

Silk was the only thing that could bring in large amounts of foreign currency. (This was before the development of synthetic fibers. ) Every house that could raise silkworms in the country did so from the late 1800s up to the Second World War. The industry continued after the war but has almost died out since the late 1980s. The technology the Japanese developed is used in other countries now. Flatter spaces with cheaper labor. China, India and Brazil produce most of the worlds silk right now. 

Bamboo is plentiful throughout most of Japan and used for construction and tools. 

I still see these trays peeking out of barns and attics. Artists and farmers use the ubiquitous trays creatively to make fences and for decorative purposes.

Here another translated page from the book I am working on.

Washing Silk Farming Tools in the River.

‘As the season changes and the water becomes warmer preparation begins. Under the rafters where the silk farming equipment has been stored over the winter, it is now taken out and tossed into the river.

Bamboo brooms in the river go, ‘swish swish’ as they splash away the grime. A war to sterilize before the rearing season starts makes everyone busy. The village is suddenly alive once more. Depending on the strength of the sun the green leaves come out. It’s time for the kids to start mucking around in the river as well.’

The eggs did not hatch today. I took the bamboo trays down to the river and gave them a swishing with a bamboo broom. 

Years ago I wanted something graphic and connected to my life on my forearm. A bamboo silk farming tray filled the criteria. 

A few people commented on the green silk I dyed the other day. I dyed some more today.

I hand spun the silk from floss from my cocoons a few years ago. Two dips in indigo and rinsed and beaten at the river. I then mordanted it with alum and over-dyed it a vicious yellow from boiled gardenia pods. Rinsed well again. I will ply it with a darker green to get a slightly marled warp thread.