I think most people who are enthusiastic about Japanese country textiles have a special place in their heart for the asa or bast fiber cloth of Japan.  Its rich texture and its closeness to nature tap into our primal instincts and connect us to something of the earth.

Here is a neat little stack of some hemp and ramie textiles in my showroom: they are piled atop a small. antique Korean tray table or soban.Under the soban is a very heavily stitched, layered and patched cotton kotatsugake which I use as an area rug.The pieces on the bottom of the stack are dyed in kaki shibu or green persimmon tannin.  Just above them are undyed pieces; above the natural ones are a few pieces of indigo dyed hemp cloth and just above the indigo dyed pieces are those which are first dyed in indigo and then overdyed in a natural yellow dye, either kihada a kind of philodendron or possibly turmeric.