The light transmittance of the gels of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/phenol/water solutions was examined for the entire range of phenol/water content. Excellent transparency was found for the gels with phenol contents of 70-95 vol %. In full consideration of the results for the transparency and melting temperature of the gels and the viscosity and gelation ability of solutions, the PVA solutions of 75 vol % phenol content were selected for the gel spinning. The maximum dynamic moduli of drawn filaments at 25 degrees C (room temperature) were 42 GPa (15X) for atactic PVA and 45 GPa (14X) for syndiotacticity-rich PVA.