The Technology of Nishijin Weaving (3): The Jacquard Loom

What exactly is a Jacquard loom?
The Jacquard loom was invented in 19th-century France by Joseph Marie Jacquard. It was later introduced to Nishijin by three young men dispatched by the Nishijin Textile Association, who brought both the machine and its techniques back to Kyoto. From there, it spread throughout Japan. The most distinctive feature of the Jacquard loom lies in the box-like mechanism mounted at the top of the loom, where a series of punched cards automatically control the woven pattern.

How does it work?
The key lies in the thousands of punched cards arranged in a continuous chain, typically positioned above and to the side of the loom—each card encoding a portion of the design data.
A punch card has holes punched in various places.These holes control the movement of the warp threads. Where there is no hole, a rod presses against the card, causing the connected hook—and with it, the heddle and warp thread—to rise. Where there is a hole, the rod passes through without resistance, and the hook remains down. This mechanism allows intricate patterns to be woven automatically, without the need for manual adjustment of individual threads.

The punched cards are prepared one by one using a specialized punching machine while referencing the design draft. Since each row of weaving requires its own card, a single intricate design—especially one without repeating motifs—can demand an astonishing number of cards, enough to fill an entire storage room. While modern Jacquard looms are now operated digitally, eliminating the need for physical punched cards, the original invention was groundbreaking for its time. Interestingly, these punched cards served as the precursor to modern computing, with their binary system of holes and spaces (1s and 0s) laying the groundwork for the development of digital technology.

Today, with the exception of tsuzure-ori (tapestry weave), most Nishijin textiles are woven using Jacquard looms. However, the punched cards have been replaced by digital data, and the shuttle movement is also automated. Originally developed for kimono and obi, these looms produce fabric with a relatively narrow width—typically between 40 cm and 70 cm—much narrower than global standards for garment fabrics, which are usually 120–140 cm wide. Although some modern looms in Nishijin can now weave up to 140 cm, and special versions exist for applications such as theater curtains, even today, most Nishijin looms produce fabric no wider than about 90 cm. In Japan, 90 cm-wide fabric remains common. For those accustomed to double-width fabrics, especially in Western dressmaking, this narrow width can be surprisingly limiting.

A broader context
While Nishijin weaving centers on silk, the revolution in cotton textiles had already begun during the Industrial Revolution. That this historical transformation started with textiles is no coincidence—fabric production has always been fundamental to human life, yet enormously labor-intensive. 

In the 18th century, one of the greatest breakthrough in the history of weaving came one after another: flying shuttle, spinning frames, spinning mule, power loom, jacquard loom, and various other small inventions. The Industrial Revolution. It is amazing all these happen in the time span of less than a century.