[Episode 4] The 1200-Year Promise: The Sacred Ubuginu Shrine and the Hybrid Flash of Inspiration
Descendants of the Inbe: The Naphtha Crisis and the 10,000-Year Fiber That Will Save the World
Previous Episode Summary
In 2026, amidst the 'Naphtha Crisis' where plastic supplies have been cut off, Mai of Takahashi Seiki receives a heartless notice from the major corporation Teito Automotive: 'We will not accept non-JIS standard packaging (hemp materials).'
In the face of this desperate crisis, the 'hemp leaf pattern birthmark' on Mai's neck begins to resonate. Her roots trace back to the 'Inbe clan,' descendants who have woven the garments of the gods since ancient times.
Armed with the 'Hemp-Tough pallets' developed by her company, Mai confronts Kanzaki, the head of procurement at Teito Automotive. Through a one-ton impact test, she proves the 'strength of a fiber that lasts 10,000 years,' surpassing existing plastics.
Moved by the truth of the factory floor, Kanzaki promises to apply an exception to the JIS standards and pursue joint development. Mai and her team have broken through a massive modern wall using ancient wisdom.
✍️ Characters (Descendants of the Eastern Development Project Team)
Mai Takahashi (35)：Manager at Takahashi Seiki. A direct descendant of the Awa Inbe clan. Her ancestral deity is Amenohiwashi-no-Mikoto.
Hattori：Mai's childhood friend. A craftsman of Hamamatsu's traditional 'Enshu Cotton Textiles.' A descendant of the ancient weaving guild, the 'Kan-hatoribe.'
Washio：A young engineer at Takahashi Seiki. Inheriting the 'Washi' (eagle) from the ancestral deity 'Amenohiwashi-no-Mikoto,' he is a genius at processing hemp fibers.
Toba：President of a mold manufacturer in the industrial park. His roots trace back to 'Toba,' the transit point where the Inbe traveled by sea from Awa to the eastern provinces.
📅 Monday, August 10, 2026
From Chita to Enshu, Tracing the Memories of the Kuroshio Current
Although I had convinced Teito Automotive to accept Hemp-Tough, we hit a new wall.
'Mai-san, for use in ultra-precision automotive gears or ultra-fine stocking threads, the current hemp fiber is still too thick and hard. Further miniaturization is beyond the limits of modern plastic molding machines.' Engineer Washio lowered his head in frustration before the microscope data. Every time I look into his serious eyes, I feel glad I scouted him. His lineage, too, is a descendant of the clan that worships the same 'Amenohiwashi-no-Mikoto' as we do. Unconsciously, Washio was rubbing the faint birthmark on his arm hard.
Modern technology cannot keep up with natural hemp.
'...Let's go back to the origin.'
I whispered to myself. Why am I, born in Tokushima, working around Toyota City in Aichi Prefecture? It is not a coincidence. My ancestors, the Inbe clan, rode the Kuroshio Current in ancient times to land on the Chita Peninsula and developed the Mikawa and Totomi (around Hamamatsu) regions. The 'hemp cultivation and weaving' technology they brought to those lands eventually nurtured Sakichi Toyoda, who would later invent the automatic loom, giving birth to the global Toyota of today.
'Washio-kun, President Toba. We're going to Hamamatsu this weekend. The answer to how our ancestors once brought the 'technology of weaving' to this country must still remain there.'
📅 Saturday, August 15, 2026
Formal Worship at Ubuginu Shrine and the 1200-Year Promise
Under the intense midsummer sun, I dressed in my dark blue work suit, straightened my back, and passed through the torii gate of Ubuginu Shrine in Mikkabi-cho, Hamamatsu City.
This is a sacred site of Japanese textile culture, where for hundreds of years since the Heian period, they have woven the 'Kan-miso' (sacred garments of silk or hemp) offered to Ise Jingu.
Standing before the worship hall, the hemp leaf birthmark on the back of my neck grew hot, as if pulsing with a heartbeat. Looking to the side, I saw Washio-kun rubbing his arm and Hattori rubbing her neck, both unconsciously and firmly. It was as if the ancient memories sleeping in this land had begun to resonate in unison through our bloodlines. Guided by the priest, we ascended to the hall for formal worship.
The 'Onusa' (purification wand) was shaken, and the soft rustling sound echoed above our heads. Tied to that wand was not a white plastic string, but genuine 'asa' (hemp/yu).
(Amenohiwashi-no-Mikoto, please grant us the wisdom to overcome this crisis. We will once again properly re-weave the modern supply chain, which has become reliant on plastic and forgotten the gratitude for materials, with our own hands.)
I bowed deeply, performed two bows, two claps, and one final bow.
The moment I opened my eyes, the noise in my head had strangely vanished, and my vision was clear.
In the shrine grounds after the worship, my local childhood friend Hattori was waiting for me. She is a descendant of the 'Kan-hatoribe' (the tribe that weaves the garments of the gods) and is now a craftsman passing on the traditional 'Enshu Cotton Textiles' to the modern day.
"Mai, long time no see. The commotion you're making about hemp has reached all the way to Hamamatsu." Hattori grinned and spread out a beautiful bolt of cloth. "Look, this isn't just any cloth. Every single thread is packed with prayers offered to the gods and 1200 years of improvements. Our ancestors didn't just make clothes. They kept refining their techniques to give form to their prayers."
Her words struck me. Hattori's eyes held an unwavering pride as a craftswoman.
📅 Sunday, August 16, 2026
The Origin of Toyota: Inspiration from Enshu Cotton Textiles
In Hattori's workshop, we were speechless. Displayed there were the blueprints for the "Toyoda Wooden Hand Loom" (automatic loom) invented by Sakichi Toyoda in the Meiji era, alongside the latest fabric Hattori had woven.
"Hey, Mai. Plastic molding machines melt and 'extrude' the material, right? That's why the hemp fibers clump up and clog the machine. But our ancestors didn't melt the hemp. They were'weaving it with vertical and horizontal threads.'"
At Hattori's words, Washio and President Toba gasped.
"Weaving...?"
"Yes. Enshu cotton textiles intentionally leave 'neps' (knots) in the thread to create a unique texture and a strength that incorporates air. Ah, so for the precision gears and stockings you're trying to make, instead of just mixing hemp fibers into a pool of PP (polypropylene), why not use a method where you 'twist PP microfibers and hemp microfibers together into a single hybrid thread, and weave it directly into the shape of the part'? You could make them without using a molding machine."
"That's it...!" shouted Washio, the engineer. "It's not injection molding, but a fusion of spinning and 3D weaving technology! We aren't pouring in resin. We're 'weaving' the gear shape itself in three dimensions using a hybrid thread of hemp and PP, and finally coating the surface with a thin layer of resin to harden it... This way, we can create gears with strength that surpasses metal without cutting the fibers. It's the very origin of the Toyoda automatic loom!"
President Toba, the mold manufacturer, also clenched his fist. "If we use our ultra-precision mold technology, we can create that '3D nozzle that weaves plastic and hemp simultaneously.' Mai, this is going to turn the plastic industry's common sense upside down!"
Descendants of Amenohiwashi-no-Mikoto (Mai and Washio), who rode the Kuroshio Current from Awa to the eastern provinces.
Descendants of the sea people who supported the transit points (President Toba).
And the descendant of the craftspeople who have continued to weave the garments of the gods (Hattori).
The DNA of the project team that pioneered this Totomi land 1200 years ago was perfectly united on the grand stage of the Reiwa naphtha crisis.
"Thank you, everyone," I said, holding back tears as I placed my hands over theirs. "After the JIS standards, we're going to rewrite the world standards. With our 'Enshu Textile Hybrid Technology,' we're going to take the demand for nylon away from the rest of the world!"
The midsummer Hamamatsu breeze blew through, hot and strong, as if blessing our resolve.
💡 Next Episode Preview
"The Curse of Oil and a Fated Reunion"
Mai has found a breakthrough in '3D weaving technology' in Hamamatsu. However, standing before her in her moment of triumph is the massive darkness of the 'oil interests' that rule the world. "Oil will not run out. The crisis of depletion is a fiction created for control." Learning the shocking truth, Mai realizes that their invention is a 'rebellion' against the world's highest ruling class. Appearing before her as she trembles in fear is Rei Fujiwara, an elite from the Ministry of Defense. He was a descendant of the 'Nakatomi (Fujiwara) clan,' who once buried the Inbe in the darkness of history. Crossing 1300 years of time, the Inbe, who govern material goods, and the Nakatomi, who govern words, join hands at the sacred Mishima Taisha Shrine. It was the beginning of a life-or-death counterattack to pry open the 'rock door' known as oil.
"In a world without oil, we will weave the future. Even if we make the world our enemy."
💡 Traditional Trivia: What is the sacred fiber 'Yu'?
The 'Yu' that appeared in the text might make you think of 'cotton' when you hear the reading. But actually, it's something completely different. Isn't it cotton? In fact, the 'cotton' we use today only reached Japan after the Sengoku period. In ancient Japan before that, 'Yu' referred to fibers made by peeling the bark of paper mulberry or hemp, steaming the fibers, soaking them in water, and tearing them apart.
Offerings to the gods:Because it is exceptionally white and pure, it has been considered a sacred material essential for Shinto rituals since ancient times. Even at the Ise Jingu Shikinen Sengu, 'Kan-miso' (sacred garments) woven from this 'Yu' (bast fiber) are dedicated.
'Weaving' is 'Praying':It is said that one of the etymological origins is 'yu' (to tie), meaning to bind or fasten fibers together. The very process of taking scattered fibers, turning them into a single thread, and giving them form may have been, for ancient people, a form of prayer to the gods itself. While modern plastic technology is about 'melting and hardening' (homogenization), the ancient 'Yu' technology is about 'drawing out and tying' (structuring). This reversal of thinking becomes a major key to the story!
(Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology)