Tonight Majalah 3 talks about Japan again, this time more specifically to Okinawa and related to my country. I can recall the last time Majalah 3 went to Okinawa was in early 2012 to talk about some martial arts that are unique to there. Majalah 3 also later in 2012 talked about Japan twice, one about the earthquake and tsunami victims in east Japan and the development of Japan after the devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. Earlier in 2013 Majalah 3 also talked about koi fish and its relation to Japan and also talked about Hokkaido and Japan's readiness to attract Muslim tourists and halal food in Japan.
Tonight's episode that I watched via Tonton live TV streaming was about batik in Malaysia and Japan. The batik in Japan that they refer is the bingata which is made in Okinawa and the texture is look like batik. I'm not really a fan or interested in the world of textures but I watched the episode with interest in Japan. Bingata is only worn by the Ryukuan royalty and only made by the families authorised by the Ryukuan royalty. So I believe that bingata making is a family business. Nowadays bingata is made by the Shiroma family and one of the family members of the Shiroma family is responsible for the bingata. He is Eiichi Shiroma. He had studied batik in Jogjakarta and was also able to speak some Malay when he met with a batik expert professor from Universiti Teknologi Mara and his mentor. Eiichi Shiroma inherited his ancestors' bingata tradition. His family is now in its 14th generation.
The batik expert professor from Universiti Teknologi Mara showed a Hokokai batik which was used by his mother. It uses the Japanese technique. The batik has different designs in each part of the batik in one fabric. He said one who wears this may think that she had two batik fabrics.
I also found out that the Malaysian batik downfall happened between late 1970s and early 1980s because batik was made using dull colour. Batik making revived during the Look East Policy in 1982.
The Majalah 3 team also went to a prison where some prisoners are thought to make batik. The batik expert professor from Universiti Teknologi Mara visit the prisoners who make batik. He wants the prisoners to pass the knowledge of making batik with honesty.
The batik expert professor from Universiti Teknologi Mara's former student is also interested in batik. He had once tried to introduce batik to Japan by using kimono. He is also interested in making batik using natural colouring using his experience.
A discovery of an ancient kris found in Okinawa in 2003 (I think this is the first time I know this) also made a question mark on whether the Malay sultanate had made trade relations with the Ryukuan Empire. The kris was shown to the batik expert and his student by an Okinawan researcher named Prof Dr Kurayoshi Takara. The researcher, the batik expert and his student believes that this is one evidence that proves that trade relations between Malacca and Ryuku exists. The kris artefact is stored in the Okinawa Archaeological Centre. The centre's officer Yamamoto Masaaki is responsible for keeping the kris artefact.
The batik expert and his student also visited Shuri High School which is the oldest school in Okinawa. Bingata is one of its learning subject in the school so they visited there. The students, mostly girls, learn how to make bingata during their three years in the school. The batik expert also talked to the students in Malay about Malaysian batik making.
In the end, Eiichi and the batik expert collaboratively made bingata and batik motifs in a fabric. The end product is later exhibited at an art gallery at UiTM Shah Alam.
And that was the end of tonight's episode which is also Majalah 3's last episode for 2013. It is also a mere coincidence that the first and the last episode of Majalah 3 for 2013 is also about Japan. Tomorrow I'm going to watch Syahadah Tokyo special programme on TV9 in the morning.
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