This length of fabric was woven for use as an obi, the sash that secures a kimono. It may have been woven in Nishijin, the weaving district of Kyoto, which was fanous for the production of nishiki. This term is usually translated as brocade but is actually used to describe a wide variety of silk fabrics woven with supplementary patterning warps, or more commonly, wefts of polychrome silk or metallic threads. Obi made from these colourful fabrics were very popular.