The Yonezawa Textile Museum

Inside the Yonezawa Textile Museum, a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

I was first introduced to Yonezawa's textile legacy...I don't remember exactly when. Sorry for the jest but now that I think about it I'm not sure when I first was made aware of it. Nonetheless, the creation of the textile industry here was a part of the restoration of the city's fortunes in the late 18th century.

Based on a friend's recollections I presume the old weaving and dyeing shops and factories were active in large numbers up until about 35 years ago. She told of how, as a child, she always heard the sound of the looms clacking away all day and how the river was coloured by dyes discharged by the shops. She was a bit surprised as an adult to find that the natural colour of the water was not the hue she remembered as a child. I'm guessing those small factories and shops were superseded by modern facilities around that time frame. Either that or they modernized their equipment and methods of dealing with effluent.

One thing which surprised me was the location of the museum. It's only a couple of blocks from my home and I've passed the building many times in the past year without being aware of its occupants. The reason why I had checked to find the location of the textile museum was because a friend and his family were visiting from Canada and I was looking for sites to take them to. So it was a pleasant surprise to find the place was "In front of [my] eyes and nose", as some Japanese might say.