The Sharimbai that belongs to the rose family
blooms tiny, white
flowers that grow densely in April in Amami. It
is called "Techigi"
in Amami dialect. This tree is indispensable as
dyestuff
for Oshima-Tsumugi. Chips of Sharimbai trunks are
boiled
in a caldron and the material silk thread is dyed
many times
in the Sharimbai liquid.
It is also popular as a garden plant, but the
Amami people seem to
make use of native Sharimbai trees big enough to get dyeing chips
from.
Seven or eight years ago, I traveled to Sydney,
Australia. It was
the end of January. I was very much impressed to
find flowering
Sharimbai trees on the grounds of the Sydney
Opera House.
Sydney has to be midsummer in January, but I
remember
feeling it was just like late spring in Amami.
