Aizu Momen is a type of cotton textiles woven in Aizu Wakamatsu, a city located in the northeast part of the Japanese Archipelago. Surrounded by mountains, the town gets extremely hot during the summer and equally cold during the winter, with heavy snowfall that often reach up to 1 meter deep. Since cotton plants prefer a temperate climate, Aizu Wakamatsu is known to be the northern limit for the production of the plant in Japan.

The “stripe” technique was brought in by weavers who were invited into the region. Each area developed a wide variety of Jijima, or local stripes, with different colors and widths of stripes dyed with vegetation unique to each locality. These local stripe patterns were specific enough so that one could identify which village a person lives in from their stripes. The record book holds close to 100 patterns of jishima, and those beautiful stripes are the major characteristic for Aizu Momen.

The air-involved textile can keep coolness during the summer with high ventilation, and warmth during the winter. It is the textile created by the natural features of the region, and from the necessity in living under the severe climate.

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