▼ What do you think this is?
Zaguri Silk-Reeling Machine | A Wooden Machine from Taishō 12 (1923)
This is called a “zaguri-ki” (座繰機), a traditional silk-reeling machine used to draw silk filaments from cocoons and wind them onto a reel. I had wanted one for a long time, but new machines are quite expensive and beyond what I could afford.
So why did I want one? Because at last!! I am going to reel silk from cocoons and weave with it! I searched and searched, and finally found one. And amazingly!! It cost just 2,980 yen.
Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries also introduces this traditional method of silk reeling in “A Closer Look at Zaguri Silk Reeling”.
But as you can see, this is a real antique—made in Taishō 12 (1923), during Japan’s Taishō era!
Because this zaguri machine is so old, some parts are of course broken. Fortunately, the gears that turn the reel are still sound, so it looks as though the machine can be used again if I repair it.
Zaguri Silk-Reeling Machine | Restoring the Broken Parts
▼ I repaired it, making new replacement parts where the original pieces were broken.
Repairing such an old zaguri machine was not easy, but I worked on it piece by piece while preserving every part that could still be used.
Zaguri Silk-Reeling Machine | Moving Again After Restoration
▼ After several days of repairs, at last!! The restoration was finished.
This nearly century-old “wooden machine” began moving again, making a gentle clattering sound. I still need a few more tools before I can actually reel silk from cocoons, so I cannot use it for silk reeling just yet. But I am already looking forward to the day when I can draw silk from cocoons with this zaguri machine!
Later, I actually reeled raw silk from cocoons with it. I wrote about that process in “From Cocoons to a Shawl (Zaguri Reeling)”.