On April 28, 2026, I planted bananas in one corner of our field!
Many people may be thinking, “Aren’t bananas tropical plants!?” This one is a pink velvet banana (Musa velutina).
It is a subtropical plant native from the eastern Himalayas to Assam in India. Compared with many other bananas, it is relatively tolerant of cold. Some Japanese plant nurseries give around −5°C as a rough hardiness guide, although this does not mean that the leaves and aboveground growth remain undamaged. The plant may die back in cold weather, so we will have to see whether it can actually overwinter outdoors here in Iga.
It is also a genuine banana that produces small, bright pink fruit. When the fruit ripens, its skin splits open. In Japan, its resemblance to an open akebi fruit has given it the name “akebi banana.”
At the textile farm of Hitotsuya（ひとつ屋）, however, we did not begin growing it only for the fruit. I was also strongly attracted by the possibility of using the plant as a source of fibre.
What I really want to try making is a material inspired by tapa, or Pacific barkcloth!
Traditional tapa is made mainly from the inner bark of trees. The bark is beaten to spread its fibres and form a broad, cloth-like sheet. Unlike bashōfu, in which plant fibres are made into yarn and woven, tapa is produced by beating, widening, and joining the plant material itself. It is a little like a mysterious form of “felt made from plant fibres.”
Strictly speaking, I do not yet know whether a sheet made from an akebi banana could truly be called tapa. Even so, I want to find out whether the plant can be beaten, spread, and transformed into a new sheet-like material.
When I first learned about tapa, I became fascinated. Then my usual bad habit appeared: “I want to make it!” 😅 So I immediately bought ten akebi banana plants online, and the growing experiment began.
I planted the small plants one by one in a bed covered with black mulch. They still look rather fragile, and some of the leaf tips are slightly damaged. Yet inside those small plants lies the beginning of a dream about a new material. It felt less like planting seedlings and more like planting materials for the future. Well, perhaps that is putting it a little dramatically 😅
To be honest, I still have a great deal to learn about tapa and barkcloth. I need to read many more references. I do not yet know which part of the akebi banana might be usable, whether beating alone can produce a sheet, or whether some other treatment will be necessary.
But does it not sound fascinating!? Beginning with a plant, growing it in the field, harvesting it, and then using our own hands to create an entirely new material!
For now, I will simply keep working and look forward to watching the bananas grow――🤣
Please look forward to seeing what happens!