Aizu Momen <extracted from Wikipedia (originally in Japanese)>
Aizu Momen is a traditional craft that is carried on in the old Aizu County of Mutsu Province (today’s western part of Fukushima Prefecture).
Plain-woven and durable, this cotton textile has been widely worn as farm working clothes. It has thickness and soft texture and is more shrink-resistant than an ordinary plain-woven cotton textile, so much that it stands washing at home.
Its characteristic weaving process involves firm starching of the warp by soaking it in wheat starch solution, prior to weaving in the weft. The starching creates fine nodes between the warp and weft, allowing a layer of air to be contained when woven.
The layer of air contained in the textile provides superior heat-retention as well as perspiration absorbency.
About Aizu Momen <Supplemented by Yamasaki, YAMMA>
Among all the cotton textile in Japan, Aizu Momen is the one that has the strongest of regional colors, and characteristic that agrees with the locality of Aizu, which on its own is a very unique region.
Developed by the people of Aizu who were born and raised in the typical of the basin climate: the hot summer and heavy snow during the winter, Aizu Momen is equipped with a superb temperature adjustment function. It keeps the cool with high ventilation during the summer and helps keeping the body temperature during the winter by almost immediately becoming the same warmth as the body when worn. In fact, unlike the cotton lawn, it never feels cold when touched but gives unbelievable warmth for a 100%-cotton textile. It is an excellent piece of fabric that can be worn literally throughout the year.
Moreover, the recent dyeing process employs high-fastness (meaning, 'doesn't fade easily') method in order to keep the beautiful stripe patterns, allowing the original condition to last longer.
It is washable in an ordinary household washing machine (even winter clothes, which you may find convenient), and is a stress-free material that can be used without much care.
The raw cotton is imported from America, while spinning and reeling works are done in Japan. All dyeing process is done in our factory, in very time-consuming manners and with impressive results.
All the hard work is summarized into the unique patterns of Aizu Momen, which is achieved by layering and placing the yarns in various colors side by side. There is no other way but the hard way we take, to achieve those patterns.
Cotton is generally known to shrink easily. YAMMA ships out all merchandize after handwashing them. Don’t be surprised to see your purchases all wrinkled when delivered. Rest assured that our product will not shrink after the first wash at home.