Tradition meets AI in Nishijinori weaving style from Japan's ancient capital

KYOTO, Japan (AP) — Nishijinori, the intricate weaving technique for kimonos that dates back more than a thousand years in Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto, is getting a high-tech collaborator: artificial intelligence.

The revered colorful weaving style associated with “The Tale of Genji” of the 11th-century Heian era, has gone through its share of ups and downs. But its survival is more perilous than ever today, as demand for kimonos nose-dives among Japanese grappling with modernization.

Hironori Fukuoka, the fourth-generation successor to his Nishijinori business, is determined to keep alive the art he’s inherited, even if that means turning to AI.

“I want to leave to legacy what my father has left for me,” he said in his rickety shop in the Nishijin district of Kyoto, a city with statue-filled temples and sculpted gardens that never seems to change.

“I’ve been pondering how the art of Nishijinori can stay relevant to the needs of today,” said Fukuoka.

Besides the AI project, Fukuoka is also working on using his weaving technique to make super-durable materials for fishing rods and aircraft.

Giant looms clatter at his shop, called Fukuoka Weaving. The patterns on the gorgeous fabric, slowly turning out from the loom, are repetitive and geometric, which makes it conducive to translating into digital data. Deciding which hand-dyed color thread goes where to make the patterns is much like the on-or-off digital signals of a computer.

Such similarity is what Fukuoka focuses on in exploring how AI might work for Nishijinori, with the help of Sony Computer Science Laboratories, an independent research arm of electronics and entertainment company Sony Corp.

AI only makes suggestions for the designs and doesn’t do any of the actual production work. But that doesn’t bother Fukuoka or the researchers.

“Our research stems from the idea that human life gets truly enriched only if it has both what’s newly innovated and what never changes,” said Jun Rekimoto, chief science officer at Sony CSL, which is also studying how AI can be used to document and relay the moves of a traditional Japanese tea ceremony.

“We don’t believe AI can do everything. Nishijinori is a massive, complicated industry and so it starts with figuring out where AI can help out,” said Rekimoto, also a professor at the University of Tokyo.

What has come of it is a startling but logical turn in thinking, fitting of the art adorning kimonos worn by Japan's imperial family.

The AI was fed various Nishijinori patterns that already existed and instructed to come up with its own suggestions. One was a bold pattern of black and orange that seemed to evoke a tropical motif.

To Fukuoka, some of AI’s ideas are interesting but simply off. The difference between AI and the human effort is that the former can come up with multiple suggestions in a matter of seconds.

Fukuoka immediately gravitates toward the one that uses a motif of a leaf to define the angular lines of a traditional pattern, something he says a human wouldn’t have thought of. He finds that ingenious.

The kimono the AI collaboration has produced is a luscious soft green, although it doesn’t have a price tag and isn’t in production yet.

The weaving is carried out by the old-style machine under the guidance of the human artist in the traditional way.

Nishijinori kimonos sell for as much as a million yen ($6,700). Many Japanese these days don’t bother buying a kimono and may rent it for special occasions like weddings, if at all.

Putting one on is an arduous, complicated affair, often requiring professional help, making kimonos even less accessible.

Dr. Lana Sinapayen, associate researcher at Sony CSL, believes AI often gets assigned the creative, fun work, leaving tedious tasks to people, when it should be the other way around.

“That was my goal,” she said in an interview at Fukuoka Weaving, of her intent to use AI in assistant roles, not leadership positions.

Digital technology can’t automatically represent all the color gradations of Nishijinori. But AI can figure out how to best do that digitally, and it can also learn how the human artist fixes the patterns it has produced.

Once that’s all done, AI can tackle arduous tasks in a matter of seconds, doing a pretty good job, according to the researchers.

Artificial intelligence is being used widely in factories, offices, schools and homes, because it can do tasks faster and in greater volume, and is usually quite accurate and unbiased, compared to human efforts. Its spread has been faster in the U.S. and other Western nations than in Japan, which tends to be cautious about change and prefers carefully made, consensus-based decisions.

But the use of AI in arts and crafts is promising, such as text-to-image generative AI for the creation of visual images from text prompts, according to a study by Henriikka Vartiainen and Matti Tedre, who looked at the use of AI by craft educators in Finland.

“As computers have taken over many routine-like and boring tasks that were previously performed by people, the computer revolution has also been said to liberate time and offer new opportunities for human imagination and creativity,” they said.

This shows the Nishijinori fabric for which AI came up with the design at the Fukuoka Weaving in Kyoto, western Japan on July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)

Lana Sinapayen, associated researcher at Sony Computer Science Laboratories, speaks with The Associated Press about the Nishijinori AI project with the fabric in the background in Kyoto, western Japan on July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)

Hironori Fukuoka, the fourth-generation successor to his Nishijinori business, works on the fabric that is a collaboration with AI in Kyoto, western Japan on July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)

Hironori Fukuoka, the fourth-generation successor to his Nishijinori business, looks at the fabric that is a collaboration with AI in Kyoto, western Japan on July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)

Hironori Fukuoka, the fourth-generation successor to his Nishijinori business, looks at the fabric that is a collaboration with AI in Kyoto, western Japan on July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.

The threat comes a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the rarely used federal law to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.

Presidents have indeed invoked the Insurrection Act more than two dozen times, most recently in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to end unrest in Los Angeles. In that instance, local authorities had asked for the assistance.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison responded to Trump's post by saying he would challenge any deployment in court. He's already suing to try to stop the surge by the Department of Homeland Security, which says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since early December. ICE is a DHS agency.

In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.

Demonstrations have become common in Minneapolis since Good was fatally shot on Jan. 7. Agents who have yanked people from their cars and homes have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding they leave.

“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.

Frey said the federal force — five times the size of the city’s 600-officer police force — has “invaded” Minneapolis, and that residents are scared and angry.

Homeland Security said in a statement that federal law enforcement officers on Wednesday stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove off then crashed into a parked car before fleeing on foot, DHS said.

Officers caught up, then two other people arrived and the three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.

“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said. The confrontation took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) from where Good was killed.

Police chief Brian O’Hara said the shot man was being treated for a non-life-threatening injury. The two others are in custody, DHS said. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security.

Earlier Wednesday, Gov. Tim Walz described Minnesota said what's happening in the state “defies belief.”

“Let’s be very, very clear: this long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement,” he said. “Instead, it’s a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”

Jonathan Ross, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who killed Good, suffered internal bleeding to his torso during the encounter, a Homeland Security official told The Associated Press.

The official spoke to AP on condition of anonymity in order to discuss Ross’ medical condition. The official did not provide details about the severity of the injuries, and the agency did not respond to questions about the bleeding, how he suffered the injury, when it was diagnosed or his medical treatment.

Good was killed after three ICE officers surrounded her SUV on a snowy street near her home. Bystander video shows one officer ordering Good to open the door and grabbing the handle. As the vehicle begins to move forward, Ross, standing in front, raises his weapon and fires at least three shots at close range. He steps back as the SUV advances and turns.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said Ross was struck by the vehicle and that Good was using her SUV as a weapon — a self-defense claim that has been criticized by Minnesota officials.

Chris Madel, an attorney for Ross, declined to comment.

Good’s family has hired the same law firm that represented George Floyd’s family in a $27 million settlement with Minneapolis. Floyd, who was Black, died after a white police officer pinned his neck to the ground 2020.

Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press reporters Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Julie Watson in San Diego; Rebecca Santana in Washington; Ed White in Detroit and Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis contributed.

A protester holds an umbrella as sparks fly from a flash bang deployed by law enforcement on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Monica Travis shares an embrace while visiting a makeshift memorial for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A protester yells in front of law enforcement after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Protesters shout at law enforcement officers after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Law enforcement officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)