Ashikaga Orihime Temple

(Ashikaga City, Tochigi)

【 Orimono（織物）】 means textiles made by interweaving vertical warp threads and horizontal weft threads. The Japanese character for “weaving” (織) carries the meaning of combining threads, and its left-hand component, 糸, represents thread—the basic material used to make cloth.

Cloth is made from spun fibers, and one of the most precious fibers is silk, which has long been treasured for its smooth texture and beautiful luster. It is obtained from the cocoons of silkworms, which feed exclusively on mulberry leaves. The trees thrive in sunny, well-drained locations near the foot of mountains or in mountain valleys.

The North Kanto region, including the city of Ashikaga in Tochigi Prefecture, located where the Kanto Plain meets the surrounding mountains, has long been one of Japan’s leading silk-producing areas and is also renowned for its textile industry. Historical records indicate that textiles produced in this region were presented as offerings at the eye-opening ceremony of the Great Buddha in Nara in 752.

Another famous reference appears in Tsurezuregusa (Essays in Idleness), one of Japan’s three great classical essay collections, written in the fourteenth century. It recounts an episode in which the regent of the Kamakura shogunate shared a drink with the head of the Ashikaga clan, who ruled the Ashikaga area, and remarked that he always looked forward to receiving textiles from Ashikaga every year.

2026.06

Ashikaga Orihime Temple: A temple of textiles where people pray the bound