The spontaneous fiber formation process during saponification ofpoly(vinyl pivalate) (PVPi) with syndiotactic diad content 63 to 65% to poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) in the presence of water was in situ examined. The variation of the revolution per minute(rpm) of a torque apparatus under a constant torque was measured for the spontaneous fibrillation system, and the actual fibrillation system was visualized in the realtime scale by in-line photographing. The in situ fibrillation mechanism was accounted for by relating the variation of the rpm with proceeding the saponification reaction to the change of solution morphology with saponification. At the constant torque level, the rpm changed with proceeding the saponification reaction in a complicated way. Up to the saponification time 80 s, the rpm was slightly increased with saponification, then decreased to the saponification time 400 s. From the saponification time 400 s, however, the rpm was abruptly increased. Then, the rpm was levelled off after the saponification time 700 s. Comparison of the rotational speed variation with the morphology change revealed that phase separation began from the degree of saponification 72.8%, and a clear fibrillar structure appeared from the degree of saponification 91.6%.