YUIKOUBOU ＋ Yoshikatsu is a textile studio based in Oe, Yamagata Prefecture, dedicated to recovering and teaching the traditional fiber techniques of the Tohoku region. Their work spans silk harvesting, native plant fiber harvesting, spinning, dyeing, and weaving — a full chain of production that was once common across rural Japan.

The studio conducts fieldwork and research into ancient artisanal techniques passed down for generations. They also facilitate workshops that teach textile making from start to finish: harvesting natural materials such as silk cocoons and plants, processing them into fibers, dyeing the threads, and weaving textiles with them.

Their silk comes from regions of Miyagi where sericulture has flourished since the Edo period — a side industry for local farmers who became skilled not only at raising cocoons but also at spinning and weaving. More than a dozen silkworm farms remain along the Abukuma River in Miyagi and Fukushima. Their ramie (known in local dialect as aoso, or karamushi) is harvested in Oe itself, where the craft thrived during the Edo period and has been revived in recent years by the local community. For color, they use plant-based dyes and indigo fermentation techniques that trace back to the Nara period (710–794).