OKITAMA TRADITIONAL CRAFT②【Nagai Pongee（Nagai City）】

• published: 22 Feb 2015
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Nagai City has historically been a silk-producing region, however it recently has become famous nationwide for the production of its Nagai-tsumugi pongee, with the name of Yoneryu-kasuri. Nagai City is located in the southern part of Yamagata Prefecture and has a population of nearly 30,000. The basin around Nagai City is divided into two areas called the Nagai district and Shirataka district, both of which were governed in the early Edo period (1600's) by Naoe Kanetsugu, a famous retainer of the feudal lord of the Uesugi Clan of the Yonezawa region. Kanetsugu encouraged local farmers to grow Aoso (a plant which when made into fabric resembles linen) which was shipped to other regions in the country. However, under the reign of the lord Uesugi Yozan (the 9th lord of the clan) silk production became the main industry of the region. Many artisans were later invited from Echigo (present Niigata Prefecture, located to the south-west of Yamagata Prefecture) to help establish the silk weaving industry. Furthermore, during the Meiji period (late 1800s) textile wholesale merchants in Nagai City invited consultants from Toka-machi Niigata Prefecture in order to spread new Kasuri techniques, thus Yoneryu-Kasuri pongee, representing Nagai-tsumugi pongee, was born. 《Yamagata Prefectural Government 》 http://www.pref.yamagata.jp/ou/shokokanko/110010/kogeitop.html