Stories

“What is Hemp?” — a long-read article on ShiftC that compiles valuable information. As a specialist in this field, I will provide supplementary notes on each section.

We have translated an excerpt from the United Nations Industrial Hemp Report (2023). The United Nations has compiled a report to help people understand industrial hemp. In it, they touch...

Linen is now widely recognized and beloved in Japan, yet it is not native and was introduced as state policy in late Meiji. Tracing its arc—from industrial fiber to fashion...

“French linen” isn’t an official grade: it’s flax until it’s spun—only yarn spun in France is truly French linen. A new Normandy mill signals its revival.

Exhibition Q&A recap: hemp’s environmental benefits, natural performance, and upgraded hand feel with our latest textiles.

During decortication (the process of separating the outer bast fibers from hemp), the inner woody core, called "ogara" in Japanese and "hurd" in English, is separated and stored in a...

This was the process I wanted to know more about. It was the one thing I most wanted to see with my own eyes. The biggest key is how to...

"Those who really need to produce it should take from nature only the amount they really need." Not only Bashofu, but also linen, hemp, abaca (Manila hemp), and other fibers...

Field retting separates bast and core using rain and dew. A key, nature-driven step for textile hemp; timing and colour vary by weather.

We visited a hemp farm and a state-of-the-art Textile-Hemp spinning factory on the outskirts of Harbin. This region has long produced flax and hemp, but since the 2010s major investment...

At the end of October we visited Koro Kobo on Iriomote with OIST project lead Mr. Niizato to meet Akiko Ishigaki, a bearer and creator of Yaeyama’s bashofu.

Flax cultivation, like many crops, requires France and other countries to face climate change. In France, temperatures were +2.7 °C above the 1961–1990 average. The Alliance for European Flax-Linen &...