「冨岡の地から生まれた繭から作られる革素材」
「擬革繭」
REBORN LEATHERS FROM SILK WASTE MATERIALS
このプロジェクトでは今や希少価値となった高価な国産絹糸などの工業的には利用されない原材料に着目し、有効利用をしようと考え、世界遺産である富岡製糸場内体験座繰り生糸やキビソ、でがら繭などあらゆる副蚕糸の材料を用いた革の代替製品の開発に取り組んでいます。
私たちは廃棄素材から日本の風土に根付いた染織技法を用いて新たなマテリアルができるまでの生産工程を、ただ単に環境への負荷を減らすものではなく、地域の周辺環境に対してポジティブな影響をもたらすリジェネラティブ(再生的)なものへと昇華させる取り組みを目指しています。
This project focuses on raw materials that are not used industrially, such as expensive domestic silk thread, which is now a scarce commodity, and seeks to make effective use of them.
Our goal is not only to reduce the environmental impact of the production process from waste materials to new materials using dyeing and weaving techniques rooted in the Japanese climate, but also to make it a regenerative process that has a positive impact on the local environment.
シルクの持つ機能性の保湿、肌触りの良さ、光沢などの繭（絹）の機能を受け継いだ擬革製品は、シルクの新たな用途としての可能性を示すものであり、エシカルな消費につながるものであると確信しています。
今や希少価値となった高価な国産絹糸などの工業的には利用されない原材料に着目し、有効利用をしようと考え、このプロジェクトでは世界遺産である富岡製糸場内体験座繰り生糸やキビソ、でがら繭などあらゆる副蚕糸の材料を用いた革の代替製品の開発に取り組んでいます。また、染色工程では中国のミャオ族が作り出すリャンプーと呼ばれる布の加工方法を参考にしながら、藍染を重ねて染め上げ、叩くことことにより、革に近い素材感、風合いを作り出し、化学薬品を一切使わない地域にあるものでの染色加工を行なっているため、全ての繭家で作られる全ての素材は最終的にコンポジットが可能です。
私たちは廃棄素材から新たなマテリアルできるまでの生産工程を、ただ単に環境への負荷を減らすものではなく、地域の周辺環境に対してポジティブな影響をもたらすリジェネラティブ(再生的)なものへと昇華させる取り組みを目指しています。
The characteristics of Mayu-ya’s pseudo-hide cocoons are that they can be reused (Reuse) the by-product silk and that neither chemical treatment nor large amounts of water are used in the production process, making them truly eco-friendly man-made leather.
We are convinced that pseudo-leather products, which inherit the functions of silk cocoons (silk) such as moisturizing, pleasant to the touch, and luster, show the potential of silk as a new use and lead to ethical consumption.
With the idea of focusing on raw materials that are not used industrially, such as expensive domestic silk threads that have now become scarce and valuable, and to make effective use of them, this project is working to develop alternative leather products using all kinds of secondary silk materials, such as raw silk, kibiso, and degara cocoons from the Tomioka Silk Mill, a World Heritage site. Also, in the dyeing process, while referring to a cloth processing method called lian-pu produced by the Miao people in China, we create a material feel and texture similar to leather by layering indigo dyeing, dyeing, and beating to create a texture that is similar to leather, and because we dye and process with materials found in the region that do not use any chemicals, all cocoons made by all cocoon houses are used. All materials are ultimately composable.
Our goal is to transform the production process from waste material to new material into something regenerative that not only reduces the environmental impact, but also has a positive impact on the local environment.
繭原料の入手が困難になってきた現状（製糸工場、養蚕農家の激減など）での副蚕糸の調達に苦戦しながらも100年余り続けている糸繭商の地域のつながりから、富岡製糸場内体験座繰り生糸やキビソ、でがら繭などあらゆるシルクの廃棄となる素材を集め、新たなマテリアルの開発に取り組んでいます。
『梳綿機りゅうめんき』とよばれる機械（別名カード機）を使い、何種類かの副蚕糸を合併しカードをした後、富岡の地域で取れるいくつかの天然糊で表面を加工することで革に近い風合いを生み出しています。
本来の使用方法は羊毛や綿などの短繊維をカード（混紡）する為のものであり、繭（シルク）のような長繊維は、もともとが不向きの機械ですが、製品に使われるようなものよりも短繊維である廃棄のシルク素材を使うことにより、素材を作る上で一切水や薬品を使わず、ゴミを出さない生産工程を実現することができました。
he most important characteristic of pseudo leather cocoons is that the material is the cocoon itself. Cocoons not only protect the life of the silkworm chrysalis from external environmental changes and external influences, but also quickly release the carbon dioxide that the chrysalis emits when it breathes, and bring in fresh oxygen. This function is also inherited in silk, which is made from cocoons and has a structure very similar to that of the proteins that make up human skin. Because silk is a fiber that serves as a "life-support system," it has a variety of features that make it gentle to human skin.
Although we have been struggling to procure sub-silkworm cocoons in the current situation where it has become difficult to obtain raw materials for cocoons (the number of silk spinning mills and sericultural farms has been drastically decreasing), we have been developing new materials by collecting discarded silk materials such as raw silk, kibiso and degara cocoons from the Tomioka Silk Mill through the local connection of yarn and cocoon merchants that we have been continuing for more than 100 years. We are working on the development of new materials.
After carding, the surface is processed with some natural glues available in the Tomioka area to produce a texture similar to leather.
The original use of the machine was to card (blend) short fibers such as wool and cotton, and long fibers such as cocoons (silk) were originally unsuitable for the machine, but by using discarded silk materials, which are shorter fibers than those used for products, we were able to realize a production process that uses no water or chemicals at all and produces no waste. The production process was realized without using any water or chemicals in the production of the material.
日本の繭生産量は今から約80年前の49万トンをピークに減少し、冨岡市においても昭和43年に3010戸の養蚕農家で1441トンあった繭生産量は平成26年には約4.2トンと激減しています。
養蚕という言葉自体が死後になったようにさえ思える昨今の悪条件の中、16戸の養蚕農家がお蚕さんを育てています。外国産の繭や生糸が主流になる中で日本で蚕を育てながら暮らしてきた伝統に対する誇りとその技を後世に残したいという気持ちが脈々とつながっています。
繭家では衰退しつつある日本の養蚕を未来に残すために冨岡製糸場のある地に根差し、暮らしの知恵から生まれるものを用いて新しい価値あるものづくりに取り組んでいます。
地域に根ざした素材、技法でモノづくりをすることは結果的に継続可能かつコンポジット可能な循環型のものづくりにつながると考え、擬角繭の生産過程では廃棄のシルクに冨岡の地から生まれる物のみで独自の加工を行っています。また染色過程では八王子市にある藍染工房と協力して行うことにより、なくなりつつある伝統を残したいと考える地域同士で協力し、コミュニティを広げたモノづくりを行うことを目指しています。
小さな利益にとらわれず、立場を越えて同じ地域に暮らす人たちが冨岡の養蚕農家の繭を使用してのモノづくり。地元の養蚕農家をサポートするためにほんの少し高い値段で繭を買い取る約束をするプロジェクトにも取り組んでいます。
The production of cocoons in Japan has decreased since its peak of 490,000 tons about 80 years ago. In Tomioka City, the production of cocoons from 3010 sericultural farms in 1968, which was 1,441 tons, has drastically decreased to about 4.2 tons in 2014.
Under the current unfavorable conditions, the word "sericulture" itself seems to have become a posthumous word. While cocoons and raw silk from foreign countries have become the mainstream, the pride in the tradition of living while raising silkworms in Japan and the desire to leave their skills to future generations are still alive and well.
In order to preserve Japan's declining sericultural industry for the future, Mayuya is rooted in the land where Tomioka Silk Mill is located, and is engaged in the creation of new valuable products using materials derived from the wisdom of daily life.
We believe that manufacturing with materials and techniques rooted in the region will lead to sustainable and compositable recycling-oriented manufacturing, and in the production process of pseudo-angular cocoons, we use only materials from Tomioka to process discarded silk. In the dyeing process, we collaborate with an indigo dyeing studio in Hachioji City to preserve the traditions that are disappearing, and we aim to expand the community through collaboration.
The project is not about small profits, but about people living in the same community, transcending their positions to make products using cocoons from Tomioka's silkworm farmers. We are also working on a project in which we promise to buy cocoons at a slightly higher price to support local sericultural farmers.
「天然資源の採用」
皮を鞣すのに多くの薬品とその薬品を洗い流すのに大量の水が必要です。
天然皮革製品の殆どは、食肉用途の家畜（牛、馬、豚、羊、山羊）の皮から製造され、それ自体がReduceの役割をになっているのですが、食肉産業から原料として提供される塩蔵皮1,000kgから最終製品となるのは165kgに過ぎず、大量の固形廃棄物や裁断屑を生み、更には塩蔵皮1,000kgあたり40tの排水が処理工程て発生しています。
シルクもまた蚕を育てる段階から繭になりそこから糸になっていくまでに水を大量に使います。
また製造工程で原料から製品になるものはたったの17%といわれています。私たちはこの問題に着目し、シルクを100%使い切ることを目的として工業的には利用されない原材料である富岡製糸場内体験座繰り生糸やキビソ、でがら繭などあらゆる副蚕糸の材料を用いて生産過程で環境にダメージを与えない革の代替製品（擬革の小物類）の開発に取り組んでいます。
「キビソ」は、生皮苧と書き、緒糸（ちょし）とも呼ばれます。繭から生糸を引き出す際、まず糸口を見つけます（索緒）その時に繭の上層部の上等な糸にならない部分が取り除かれます。それを集めて糸にしたものが「キビソ」です。「繭わた」は、でがら繭を煮て解したものです。「でがら繭」は、糸が最後まで引けなかったこぼれ繭や中繭、薄皮繭、穴あき繭などの総称です。
Tanning requires a lot of chemicals and a lot of water to wash off the chemicals.
Most natural leather products are made from the skins of livestock used for meat (cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, and goats), which itself plays a role in reducing emissions. In addition, for every 1,000 kg of salted hides, 40 tons of wastewater is generated in the treatment process.
Silk also uses a large amount of water from the stage of raising silkworms to the stage of turning them into cocoons and then into yarn.
It is said that only 17% of the raw materials used in the production process are turned into finished products. We have focused on this problem and are working on the development of leather substitute products (imitation leather accessories) that do not damage the environment during the production process, using raw materials that are not used industrially, such as raw silk from the Tomioka Silk Mill, millet cocoons, and degara cocoons, and other auxiliary silk materials. We are working on the development of alternative leather products (imitation leather goods) that do not damage the environment during the production process.
Kibiso" is also written as rawhide ramie and is also called choshi. When raw silk is extracted from cocoons, the first step is to find the thread opening (choshi), at which point the upper layers of the cocoon that will not become fine thread are removed. These are collected and made into thread, which is called "kibiso. Cocoon wadding is made by boiling and breaking down the degara cocoons. Degara cocoons" is a general term for spilt cocoons, medium-sized cocoons, thin-skinned cocoons, cocoons with holes, etc., from which thread was not drawn to the end.