Japan preserves traditional hand-dyeing skills

Jul 16, 2021

Tokyo (Japan), July 16 (ANI): Traditional dyed fabrics are fluttering softly as they are hung to dry. These beautiful designed materials will be used later to make "Yukata" Japanese casual kimono. This traditional dyeing workshop in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward has been in business for over 100 years. They use a 300 year-old technique of hand-dyeing called “Chusen”, which means pouring dye, originated in the early Edo Period. Unlike machine printing, this method dyes the threads of the fabric, rather than just the surface of the cloth. This allows superimposition of delicately illustrated images, refined expression of color gradations, and double-sided reproduction of images. Most important, no two pieces of dyed fabric are exactly alike, producing subtle taste variations in every dyeing job. Finally drying takes place outside on the roof under the natural sun. This shop in Tokyo specializes in selling traditional dyed fabric that can be tailored later into “Yukata”. The selling season begins each year in April and reaches its peak between July and August when many summer festivals take place. Mastering traditional dyeing takes many years. With Japanese artisan crafts passed to generations, beautiful “Yukata” can be still seen in many places across Japan.