日本虽然在有史以前就已饲育家蚕,作为衣着而利用,但现在日本及世界各地饲育的家蚕则是数千年前由中国属于家蚕蛾科的野蚕驯化而来的。此种家蚕随着人类的往来传播到日本及世界各地,以至饲育。日本以往是由农家进行采种和逐代饲育的。到1603～1867年,较大的农家中出现了专业的蚕种制造出售者,对全茧量等特性进行了选择,至少也对 Though Japan has used silkworms as clothing to make their history before, silkworms now bred in Japan and other parts of the world were domesticated thousands of years ago by wild silkworms belonging to the silkworm moth family in China. Such silkworms spread to Japan and other parts of the world as well as breeding. In the past, Japan was harvested by the farmer and fed from generation to generation. From 1603 to 1867, there appeared professional silkworm eggs in large farms to make sellers and to choose the characteristics such as the amount of whole cocoon, at least