Toyoda and the Japanese industrial revolution

Toyoda Model G loom, Science Museum, London

In previous posts I've discussed Toyoda looms in relation to the silly myth that Japanese denim mills somehow acquired "old Levi's looms", a claim that was first used in relation to Evisu.

But Toyoda looms are fascinating for many reasons. Not only are they still weaving some of the world's finest denim today, at Kurabo, Nihon Menpu and many other mills, they also mark the birth of Japanese industry.

In Japan, the career of Sakichi Toyoda is justly celebrated. Sakichi first developed a power loom around 1897; this design was further developed by  Kiichiro Toyoda, with Rizo Suzuki and Risaburo Oshimo, who eventually perfected the design as the Toyoda Model G loom, in July 1924. "Automatic" means that the loom changes shuttles - the large bobbins which carry the white, 'fill' yarn for denim - automatically, which allows a single operator to supervise 12 or 20 looms, rather than one or two.

Toyoda looms at the Kurabo Mill, Kurashiki

Other manufacturers, including the Draper Corporation, had already developed Automatic Looms, notably the Draper Northrop, produced as early as 1897 but which seems to have only become widespread after 1915 or so. But the Toyoda G apparently allowed for bobbin change with the loom still running, it was reputedly more reliable and physically compact than its rivals, and included a failsafe mechanism, which meant the operator couldn't insert the bobbin in the wrong configuration. Consequently, it became one of the first Japanese industrial designs to be widely exported, thanks to a partnership with Britain's Pratt Brothers, a huge producer of textiles machinery, who licensed the design.

The profits generated by the Model G helped finance the development of a motor car, and the creation of what we know today as the Toyota industrial corporation. The Model G's significance is marked by the inclusion of an early model in a prominent location at London's Science Museum. The Model G loom shown here is the one in London.

It's hard to know how many Model G looms are still in operation; I know they are still in use at Nihon Menpu (a historic photo here shows them in the mill in the 1920s). Toyoda shuttle looms are in use at most of the well-known Japanese mills, most of which will have a combination of older and newer machinery. The growth of Kurabo, once of Japan's biggest textiles producers, was powered by Toyoda; period photos show dozens of Model G looms in the factory, alongside imported machinery, by Pratt Brothers and others. We know that the fabric for the first Evisu jeans was made on Toyoda looms at Kurabo - so as well as helping launch the industrial revolution in Japan, powering one of the country's key export successes, the Toyoda Model G was crucial to today's fascination with selvedge denim.

Automatic Bobbin Change mechanism

Toyoda looms at Nihon Menpu, circa 1920s.

The exterior of Kurabo Mill in Kurasghiki, an industrial giant powered by Toyoda.

The Platt Toyoda-licensed loom, built in Oldham.

Sukumo secrets: Nihon Menpu and Edo Ai

I thought I'd follow up the Nihon Menpu story with a more detailed look at one of the most fascinating aspect of their craft; their Edo Ai denim. the Sugar Cane jeans made with this fabric represent a mind-boggling mix of Japanese and American heritage. 

The Edo period, from 1600 to 1868, is well known in Japanese history; it represented a time of great growth and change, including the establishment of a significant fabrics industry, and the production of indigo - Ai. Nihon Menpu's Edo Ai fabric is dyed using the traditional technique, of natural indigo produced using the Japanese sukumo method. 

Sukumo is very different from the Indian method of extracting indigo. Producution is based primarily on Shikoku Island, just offshore from Okayama. Japanese natural indigo is extracted form the Polygonum tinctorium plant. Seeds are planted in late winter, transpolanted into fields in April, and harvested twicer in the summer. Sukumo is a composting process much like that used for making woad, but doesn't rely in milling the leaves; instead they are shredded, and separated from the stems, then spread into large beds, where they are composted; every few days the huge stack of leaves is sprayed with water and turned overto aid the fermentation or composting process. After around three months, the mass will have solidified and darkened. Traditionally it was pounded up and shaped into balls, named  ai-dama. The resulting dye stuff is more concentrated than that of woad, and would be used to dye many popular indigo items, especially sashiko, the quilted working jackets. 

For more information about natural indigo dyeing, I recommend Jenny Balfour Paul's wonderful book, Indigo.  

Nihon Menpu's Edo Ai indigo is used in a traditional hank dyeing bath, controlled by Koji Nomiya. He hangs the large hanks of fabric onto large hooks, which are lowered into the bath; the forks rotate, twisting the hanks in different directions, so that the indigo is spread evenly onto the yarn; of course, being a manuall controlled process, the indigo is more variegated than a modern rope-dyeing system. In some of the photos here, you can see the yarns look green as they emerge from the bath, then turn blue as the indigo oxidises. 

I'm not certain exactly what Sugar Cane jeans are currently made with Edo Ai indigo; I know my old pair, an approximately 1880s style jean rather like the old Nevada, were priced only slightly higher than their other jeans; a steal, considering the artistry and effort that goes into the dyeing and milling process. 

I've also added some period photos of Nihon Menpu that further emphasise the company's amazing heritage. These shots date from 1917-1920 or so. I believe the looms shown are made by Toyoda, although there's a chance they were manufactured by the British company, Platt Brothers. More on both companies soon…

Koji Nomiya hangs the hanks on the dipping machine.

 The end result:

And, for a heritage overload, here are photos of Nihon Menpu, circa 1918

Toyoda Looms, and Coals to Newcastle

I though it was a folk-tale that had been laid to rest, but even recently I've noticed writers in Mens File, The Daily Telegraph , various retailers and other places perpetuate the myth that the Japanese premium denim industry started out weaving denim using looms from America. The reason for this canard is pretty simple: I believe it was a tale initially spun by Hidehiko Yamane, founder of Evis, aka Evisu, as a nice story. Around 2000, he told me he'd brought an old Levi's loom back to Japan to produce denim; when I pointed out that Levi's had never owned any looms, he corrected his story (via a British PR) to say he "brought back a loom from an American mill." It was a nice story, since copied by others like PRPS, of how a Japanese craft industry had picked up an American tradition, but I don't believe it's true. I don't believe any significant amount of Japanese selvage denim was made on American looms. Because selvage denim is very much a Japanese tradition. This video explains why:

Toyoda, the predecessors of the Toyota car company, were a leading producer of shuttle looms from 1924, when Sakichi Toyoda developed the Model G Automatic loom. This invention is a crucial part of Japan's industrial heritage. It was such a good design that it was exported widely, and produced under licence in the UK. Toyoda shuttle looms were still in widespread use in the 1970s, in particular at the Kurabo mill. And it was, one of Evis's early backers told me, Kurabo who produced the first Evis fabric. If Hidehiko Yamane did own a "Levi's loom" it was a conversation piece.

Looms are very heavy and complex items. Why, when you have a large number of high-quality selvage looms in Japanese mills, would you ship over and use an American loom? Kurabo have stated to me that their shuttle looms were made by Toyoda. And Cone, who made denim for Levi's, reckon any of their Draper looms rendered surplus to requirements in the 1980s went off for scrap, not for export. Some disused Draper looms have gone on to fascinating destinations, as I will detail at some other time, but I don't believe that any were used for quantity production in Japan. With a huge base of efficient Japanese looms already in situ that would be, as the saying goes, taking Coals To Newcastle.

Incidentally, although I've not had verification, I've been told that the later Toyoda and Sakamoto looms could be configured to produce fabrics in variable widths. This is perhaps a reason why more survived - several US mills scrapped their narrow 28 inch looms, but retained the 1950s shuttle models, like the Draper X-2, which produced fabric in the more efficient 42 inch width (that's one of the reason later Lee jeans have only one selvage line on the busted seam).  One denim luminary recently accused me of being a loom geek. It's true. Send me your photos of looms in situ, or abandoned, American or Japanese. Check out photos of "American looms" that turn out to be Sakamoto, here. And if you have photos of American looms in Japan, please prove me wrong!

Toyoda have a rich history, it's silly to credit the Americans with their achievements, so let's drop this silly marketing myth.