Ehime: Silkworm Cocoons Ready to Be Shipped in Ehime Prefecture; Local Traditional Sericulture Was Once a Major Industry

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:38 JST, July 19, 2025

SEIYO, Ehime — Silk farmers are busy collecting and shipping silkworm cocoons in Seiyo, Ehime Prefecture, which was once one of the leading silk-producing regions in western Japan.

Hatched in late May, silkworms are placed in paper boxes divided into small compartments in which they form pure white cocoons. They are then shipped to the Nomura Silk Museum, where silk is extracted from the silkworm cocoons.

The museum exhibits historical materials related to the silk industry, including tools used in cocoon and raw silk production, while also operating a silk mill where silk is extracted from cocoons collected in the city and processed into thread.

Nomura in Seiyo is known as a “silk town” thanks to sloping terrain conducive to mulberry cultivation and silkworm farming. The town once belonged to the old province of Iyo. The raw silk produced in this area, called Iyo ito, is a high-quality product characterized by distinguished its luster and soft texture.

According to the museum, there were more than 1,000 silk-farming households in the city at its peak in the early 20th century, but now only six farmers raise about 500,000 silkworms annually.

“We want to pass this tradition on to the next generation,” museum director Kazuhiko Mitsuda said.