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Japanese Spinning The kanji “紡 (ぼう)” (bou) originated from the act of spinning thread. (As a note, without the word “bou” in your search, google gives non helpful stuff for this, [like paper yarn spinning!] so make sure to use it.) 糸車 itoguruma (literally "thread vehicle") is spinning wheel and spindle is 紡錘 bousui, of course these are in modern Japanese, but they help immensely when searching for information. Japanese wheels look a lot like Indian standing charkhras. The wheels were typically a little larger, and were typically designed for floor use rather than table use. The other difference is that the Indian charkhras have string “tires” while Japanese wheels have wooden ones. I'm not sure how else to better describe that. The part the drive band goes over is what I'm calling the “tire”, And I'm sure there's a word for it that I don't know. Hand spinning- it was likely supported spinning, done in small dishes or small rocks on the floor. As wheels were pretty common, hand spinning was not likely done by many. While the Japanese spun cotton, it was not often, and was not much. Most of the fabric was silk. Silk production was HUGE. Well, huge after the 4th century when Silk was available in Japan. Before that, silk was limited to China. There are depictions of silk reeling being done in Japan, as silkworm rearing was done in most households. The “best” silk was still done by professionals, but most households had a steady supply after about 6th century. 2 women working with silk, one using a reeling wheel and the other using a spinning wheeel. A woman and her daughter working on a reeling wheel. The fire heats the water, the hot water losens the fibers on the silk worm cacoons. Yey silk! References Patra, Rita. “History of Japanese Silk.” Patra, September 11, 2020. https://blog.patra.com/2020/09/11/history-of-japanese-silk/ . Women Spinning Silk | etsy. Accessed June 14, 2025. https://www.etsy.com/market/spinning_silk. Hokusai, Katsushika. “Katsushika Hokusai: Woman Spinning Silk: Japan: Edo Period (1615–1868).” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1790. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/45822.