Document by: Meetika Jadwani

The Art

The elaborate and opulent

designs and patterns and colors
of Japanese textiles are what
have made them world
famous. Traditional Japanese
textile surface design is quite
unique and immediately
recognizable. This is due in
some part to the twodimensional nature of the
kimono and how Japanese
design proclivities for such a
garment wrapped and
embellished the human body.
Even a brief glance at historical
and contemporary kimono
reveals that the various
techniques of dyeing reached
great heights of complexity and
flexibility in Japan.

Document by: Meetika Jadwani

Unresisted Dyeing

Dyeing a fabric directly is of

course the simplest and most
obvious means of rendering color
and design. Two methods were
used in Japan: immersion dyeing
and painting. The former involves
dipping a textile in a dye, and the
latter is brushing on color. Both
may be taken to heights of
complexity, with multiple
dippings of given areas in
numerous colors, and a textile
used as a surface for the painting
of an artist's dream. Block
printing is another form of direct
dyeing, but it never reached the
heights in Japan that it did in
other areas of Asia, particularly
India and Indonesia. Both dipping
and painting find their highest
manifestation used in
combination with one or more
types of resist dyeing.

Document by: Meetika Jadwani

Resist and Resist and

Resist

Japan's dyeing techniques center

on two basic types of resist
dyeing--paste resist (which
includes stencil dyeing), and
shaped resist (shibori). A resist is
just what the word implies, a
substance or process that stops
dye from dyeing the fabric in
certain places. (Wax resist was
well developed in the 8th century,
but had died out by the 10th and
was revived in modern times.)
Paste resist may be divided into
freehand resist applied by a
squeeze cone (Japanese:
tsutsugaki) and stencil dyeing
(katazome). The former is used
most often in the technique
known as yuzen, which usually
incorporates other methods of
embellishment, and in indigo folk
textiles, while the latter is
ubiquitous.

Document by: Meetika Jadwani

Shibori

"Shibori" is often translated "as tiedye," but this easy label is far too
limited. Shibori is a galaxy of resist
techniques, all involving shaping the
fabric in different ways then securing
or binding it tightly so that dye does
not affect the cloth where it is
secured. The variety of techniques is
truly astounding, varying from the
familiar tie-dye to a wide range of
stitched-and-bound techniques to
winding and binding cloth to cores of
different materials and sizes to
folding and clamping between
boards and the exotic and wonderful
tub-stuffing resist. Though shibori is
practiced in many other parts of the
world, including techniques not
found in Japan, and has historical
importance, no single region has as
many techniques as Japan. The
serendipitous accidental effects that
happen with shibori are part of the
technique's charm and are
particularly dramatic with cotton and
indigo.

Document by: Meetika Jadwani

Squeeze Cones

A paper cone stiffened and

waterproofed with persimmon
tannin is used to squeeze out
rice paste onto a textile
surface, delineating color areas
and resisting other areas. The
designs are entirely freehand,
and the technical flexibility and
freedom of expression are
limited only by the
craftsperson's own creativity.
Indigo folk textiles such as quilt
covers, hangings, and split
curtains (noren), display
complex, polychrome designs
of felicitous motifs made with
this technique.

Document by: Meetika Jadwani

Stencils

Japanese textile-dyeing stencils

themselves are works of art and are
collected. Their making and cutting
is an independent craft, and stencil
cutters have been designated "Living
National Treasures" by the
government. Simply, three sheets of
the finest grade of handmade
mulberry paper are coated and glued
together with persimmon tannin,
smoked for durability, aged, and
then the designs are cut. Even the
cutting tools are wonders of
craftsmanship, and watching the
cutting is like experiencing a form of
music.
Rice-paste resist is applied through
the stencils, which are removed, the
cloth is then dyed, and the process is
repeated as many times as desired.
Removing the paste is done simply
by washing (wax resist is much
harder to remove). Amazingly
delicate, minute patterns (komon) as
well as bold design are both possible
with stencils. The Okinawan bingata
dyeing displays a complex use of
stencils.

Document by: Meetika Jadwani

Yuzen

The name of this technique

appears often in art books, but
few adequate descriptions are
found in English. One reason is
because it is so complex;
basically yuzen is a mixture of
freehand paste resist and
painting, and it also may
include stencil and shibori work.
The decorative flexibility
possible with this combination
of techniques is unsurpassed.
Design motifs are first outlined
in paste resist, then the dyes
are applied in such a way as to
give subtle gradation of tone.
Both delicacy and
extravagance are characteristic
of yuzen, and traditional motifs
and decorative concepts are
most common. Embroidery
and gold leaf application often
finish a yuzen composition.
Document by: Meetika Jadwani

There are two types of yuzen. One is a freehand paste resist and painting technique and the other employs stencils. Each has its own
history and production process. Explained below in a simplified form are the main stages of freehand yuzen. This is the present form of
the original technique developed by Miyazaki Yuzen, a fan painter who was active in Kyoto during the 17th century. The technique was
introduced to Nagoya by craftsmen from Kyoto and Edo (Tokyo) during the 1730s when the seventh head of the Owari clan Muneharu
was in power, and a simplified style of handling the color in keeping with the modest, frugal character of the clan became established.

Document by: Meetika Jadwani

Step I

Basic Design: Using a fugitive

dye, the design is painted onto
white silk, which has be tacked
up into the shape of a kimono.
The fugitive dye is made from
an extract obtained from the
day flower and washes out with
water. Many of the designs
used for Nagoya yuzen are
classical in character
comprising flowers, plants,
birds and scenes of nature.

Document by: Meetika Jadwani

Step 2

Line Resist: Using what looks

like an icing gun, a rice-paste
resist is trailed around the
outline of the design. The resist
is made to a special recipe by
cooking a glutinous rice in
powder form with water and a
little salt, to which zinc dust is
added. Outlining the elements
of the design in this way
prevents colors bleeding into
each other when the body of
the design is dyed. The
untacked cloth is stretched out
and held taught widthwise by
bows of bamboo with pins at
either end. Doing this, of
course, may distort the design,
so it is important that the line
of resist faithfully follows the
outline of the design.

Document by: Meetika Jadwani

Step 3

Coloring the Elements: This stage

of the work is critical to the final
quality of the cloth. Using brushes
loaded with the dye, the areas
within the outlines are colored,
working from the pale colors first.
Because there is a possibility that
the resist will be softened by the
water in the dye and that colors
may bleed as the line resist
expands, the cloth is suspended
over a small charcoal brasier or
electric ring to dry the dyes as
they are applied. Several different
kinds of brushes are used
depending on the area being
dyed, the amount of detail and if
colors need to be worked into one
another. One is peculiar to
Nagoya yuzen. It is a flat brush
with the hair cut at an angle and is
used to grade colors. When all the
elements have been colored, the
dye is fixed by steaming the cloth.

Document by: Meetika Jadwani

Step 4

Design Resist: In order to

prevent the design from being
dyed with the background
color, a rice-paste resist is laid
over the whole design. The
resist is made in the same way
as the line resist. When this has
been completed the cloth is
dusted with fine saw dust,
which not only accelerates the
drying time of the resist but
also prevents the resist from
straying onto other parts of the
cloth.

Document by: Meetika Jadwani

Step 5 & 6

Step 6
Finishing: After the residues of dye
and resist have been washed out of
the cloth, it is steamed and pulled
back into shape, and additions are
made to the design and color. Details
such as the finer parts of flowers and
people's eyes, which could not be
done when the main elements of the
design were being dyed, are painted in
now. Gold and silver lines and areas of
gold leaf may also be added to
complete the work before the pattern
is matched and the cloth is finally
sewn up into a kimono.

Brush Dyeing: The cloth is

strung out between two
columns at a workable height,
and stretched widthwise using
the bamboo bowed stretcher
placed at intervals of 30 cm.
Although the background dye
is now simply brushed on with a
wide brush, it takes a great deal
of skill to be able to do it
evenly. In order to dye the
black background for a type of
formal kimono, a very
particular technique called
torobiki-zome is employed. A
glutinous type of rice is mixed
into a hot solution containing
the black dyestuff and this is
then brushed onto the cloth, to
produce a rich lustrous black.

Document by: Meetika Jadwani

Document by: Meetika Jadwani

Typical of cotton tie-dyeing, there are some 100 different tying techniques used in the production of
multicolored designs for formal kimono and unlined yukata. The most representative of these techniques
are nui shibori, kumo shibori, miura shibori, kanoko shibori or the well known "fawn spot" tie-dyeing, and
sekka shibori. A very particular effect is produced by varying the strength of the dye when indigo is used.

Document by: Meetika Jadwani

Stencil Cutting: Stencils are cut following the design.

Stenciling the Underdrawing: The design is stenciled onto the cloth using
a hot water soluble fugitive dye extracted from the dayflower.

Tying: The cloth is now tied with a cotton thread. Development of this
technique now means that there are more than one hundred methods of
tying the cloth.

Dyeing: The tied cloth is dyed. This process needs to be repeated more
than 20 times to dye a whole 12 meter roll of kimono cloth. If it is a
multicolored design, a number of different methods are employed
between the tying and dyeing.

Untying: After the dyeing is complete, the cloth is well dried before the
cotton ties are removed. Because the cotton ties are tied so tightly, care
must be taken not to damage the cloth, which is now steamed to iron out
the wrinkles.
Document by: Meetika Jadwani

Document by: Meetika Jadwani