A thin plain-weave silk textile. The ashiginu in the Shōsō-in came to the national government as tax cloth from provinces across Japan. Some examples still bear inscriptions indicating where they were made. These inscriptions make it possible to determine the provenance of items in the Repository with silk linings. Originally, the term referred to poor-quality silk woven in Japan, as opposed to finer textiles imported from China. Over time, however, the quality of domestic silk production improved and the discrepancies between the silk produced in the two countries disappeared. See also Plain weave.