Dried Ramie Fibers (Aoso) and Thread, Echigo Jōfu

Dried ramie fibers from Showa Village in Fukushima prefecture (left); a round bundle of hand-plied thread as it comes out of the thread bucket (center); and skeins of finished thread, which have been given an overall twist and snow bleached (right). The transformation of the raw fiber into thread is time consuming and painstaking, but it is only the first chapter in the process of making Echigo jōfu.