| 5th to 6th century: The Hata clan opens up the Yamashiro area. With the enactment of the Taiho Ritsuryo code, Oribe no Tsukasa (a governmental textiles office) is set up toadminister the production of nishiki (brocade), aya (twill), ra (thin silk),and tumugi (pongee). 794: |
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The roots of Kyoto Nishijin weaving go back some 1,200 years to the founding of Heian-kyo, mode to manage the production of textiles for court nobles, and employed weavers to produce luxury fabrics. By the middle of the Heian Period(794-1192), however, these state-owned textile operations were on the decline, and more and more weavers were choosing to set up independent workshops. New weaving techniques were arriving from Sung Dynasty China at this time, which the Nishijin weavers were quick to absorb. |
