“Garabou” is a traditional Japanese spinning machine invented about 150 years ago by Gaun Tokimune.
The name comes from the rattling sound it makes while spinning cotton into yarn.
At the time, Garabou was an innovative spinning machine. However, compared with more modern Western-style spinning machines, it was slower and produced yarn with an uneven thickness. As the age of modern mechanized spinning advanced, Garabou gradually declined.
Still, Garabou has a special quality. Because the way it spins cotton into yarn is close to hand spinning, the yarn it produces has a soft, rustic texture similar to handspun yarn. It can also spin short-fiber cotton, such as Japanese cotton, which is difficult to process with modern spinning machines.
At Hitotsuya, we hope to create items using this old kikai — a tool-like machine that remains close to handwork, connecting it to our natural dyeing and hand weaving.
Please look forward to the continuing evolution of Hitotsuya’s making!
* At Hitotsuya, we use the Japanese word “kikai” to describe tools and machines that work alongside human hands. In this context, “kikai” is different from a modern industrial “machine.”