For many years, our botanical-dye workshop had been searching for a particular material: Sea Island cotton, often called the “jewel of cotton.”
In Search of the “Jewel of Cotton”
At Hitotsuya（ひとつ屋）, we had been growing green cotton, drawn to its texture and story. From the perspective of a dyeing workshop, however, its natural green color can affect other colors applied later. “What if we could find cotton with the same appeal, but with a clear, luminous white?” That desire led us to seek rare Sea Island cotton seed.
Seeds Arrived from Overseas
At the time, we could not find Sea Island cotton seed for cultivation in Japan. We contacted an overseas seed company, prepared the required import documents, and accepted the high shipping and related costs. The long-awaited seeds arrived more than a month after our first inquiry.
Just as we were thinking, “Sea Island cotton is finally coming,” the Japanese authority responsible for import inspection informed us that the shipment was suspected of containing genetically modified cotton. The package could neither be moved nor opened while testing was under way. Several days later, the result was positive: GM cotton was present in the imported seed lot.
GM cotton cultivated in various countries may carry traits such as resistance to particular insect pests or tolerance to certain herbicides. Japan allows some GM cotton lines for food or feed uses, but cultivation is not authorized. For cultivation, biodiversity effects must be assessed and approved under Japan’s Cartagena Act; the relevant GM cotton lines have not received that approval for cultivation, so planting them in Japan would be unlawful. The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries provides official guidance for cotton-seed importers.
Regulation, agricultural practice, and public attitudes toward GM crops differ from country to country. This account is not intended to condemn countries where GM cotton is legally grown, nor the farmers who use it. The problem in our case was specific: the seeds could not legally be cultivated in Japan and did not match our purpose of raising non-GM cotton on our own land.
The Seeds Were Disposed of Before Our Eyes
Later, officials from the relevant authorities came all the way to our workshop. With the people concerned present, every seed was disposed of. The hopes built through considerable time and expense disappeared in only a few minutes.
We also learned how widely GM cotton and its seed circulate in major cotton-producing countries. Although the shipment had been sold to us as Sea Island cotton seed, it was not the non-GM seed that we intended to grow in Japan.
What Were We Really Looking For?
We stopped for a while, but the experience became an important turning point. We began asking ourselves: was our true aim simply to bring in a finished answer prepared somewhere else?
Perhaps what we wanted was not a seed carrying a world-famous name. What mattered was growing cotton on our own land, selecting plants suited to that place, making yarn, dyeing it, and carrying it forward into cloth. We came to feel that the time and work within that cycle were central to Hitotsuya.
Extra-Long-Staple Cotton Preserved in Japan
Fortunately, we later received seeds of high-quality extra-long-staple cotton that had been maintained in Japan. They do not carry a famous brand name, and we have no documentation proving a direct lineage from Sea Island cotton. Even so, they have been passed from one generation to the next in Japan and produce beautiful, long white fibers.
▼ Extra-long-staple cotton preserved in Japan
Toward “Hitotsuya Cotton”
We will now raise these seeds at the Hitotsuya Textile Farm in Iga. By selecting vigorous plants, plants with long and beautiful fibers, and plants that adapt well to the local climate, we will carry their seed into the next generation. It will take time, but rather than importing a finished answer, we want to grow, select, and work with the cotton here until it gradually becomes “Hitotsuya cotton.”
The bitter experience of that day became an important passage toward deciding what to nurture on this land and what to leave to the next generation. The “jewel of cotton” left us with that question.