At Hitotsuya（ひとつ屋）, one of our aims is to make botanical-dyed products into a sustainable form of industry. This involves not only dyeing and weaving, but also producing materials, caring for the surrounding landscape and considering where the heat required for our work comes from.
Another part of this work is introduced in “Reclaiming Abandoned Farmland and Growing Craft Crops (3)” (Japanese page).
This article records our attempt to use bamboo cut from an unmanaged grove as fuel for the traditional stove used to dye yarn and cloth.
Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries explains that biomass can be used as a product or energy source. Japan’s Forestry Agency also identifies bamboo as a biomass resource and notes that its use can support the proper management of bamboo groves.
The Forestry Agency’s bamboo information is available in “About Bamboo” (Japanese source).
Using Bamboo as a Local Fuel
▼ The old-house workshop in Iga and the satoyama woodland behind it
Hitotsuya opened its workshop in an old Japanese house in Iga, Mie Prefecture, in early summer 2018. The beginning of the workshop is recorded in “The Beginning of the Iga Workshop” (Japanese page).
Before we arrived, no one had lived in the house for several decades. The satoyama woodland—the landscape between the village and the mountains—had also been left without regular care.
▼ Cutting back bamboo so that light can reach the woodland floor
The first task was to cut back the bamboo that had spread into the surrounding woodland. By thinning the dense growth, we hoped to allow sunlight to reach the ground again.
I was told that a maintained bamboo grove should be open enough to walk through while holding an umbrella. In practice, we decide which bamboo to leave and which to cut by observing the condition of each area.
▼ Cutting the bamboo into lengths suitable for the traditional stove
The harvested bamboo is cut into lengths of about 40cm, dried and used for kindling and fuel in the traditional masonry stove, known in Japanese as a kamado.
The stove was already part of the old house, but it was close to collapse when the workshop began. We repaired it little by little. The work is recorded in “Repairing the Hettui-san Kamado Stove” (Japanese page).
▼ Dyeing yarn and cloth with heat from bamboo and fallen branches
At Hitotsuya, bamboo cut during woodland maintenance and fallen branches collected from the satoyama are used as fuel for botanical dyeing in the old stove.
Bamboo is not expected to provide all the heat by itself. Bamboo, small pieces of wood and fallen branches are combined according to the way each material burns.
▼ Maintaining the bamboo grove and satoyama before the rainy season
Before the rainy season, we again worked on the bamboo grove and surrounding woodland. The cut bamboo and small trees were divided into manageable lengths and left to dry for later use as fuel.
▼ Bamboo fuel stacked beside the stove
The cut bamboo is stacked beside the stove while it dries. We also use it to heat the bath, so even a large pile disappears surprisingly quickly.
This form of making, using bamboo and small trees from the surrounding landscape as fuel, is still at an early stage.
Using harvested bamboo requires cutting, transport, drying, storage and careful control of the fire. Much of the process remains inefficient, and further time and experimentation will be needed before it can become a stable production method.
Using a local material does not automatically make a process sustainable. The labour involved, safety, smoke, ash and the overall balance of the work must also be considered.
Even so, bamboo and small trees removed during satoyama maintenance need not simply be discarded. Using them as a source of heat where they were collected creates a direct connection between caring for the landscape and making textiles.
Rather than presenting a completed system, Hitotsuya records what has not yet worked, continues testing and gradually improves the process. This is one part of our approach to sustainable making.
Hitotsuya’s wider approach is introduced in “Hitotsuya’s Approach” (Japanese page).
▼ Maintaining the bamboo grove also made it possible to harvest bamboo shoots
