Twisting Machine for Hand-Plied Ramie Thread, Echigo Jōfu

This twisting machine custom made for putting a twist in hand-plied ramie is one of the only steps that is mechanized today, as it has been for many decades. In order to twist thread on the twisting machine, the thread from the oboke bucket must first be wound into small, hollow balls called heso (“belly buttons”), which are placed into the metal cylinders below. The threads come out of the center of the heso and are twisted as they are reeled into skeins above.