BACK TO LIST
LIST OF CONTENTS
Kyoto yuzen
The technique of paste-resist dyeing known as yuzren was invented by Miyazaki Yuzensai during the 17th century. It is perhaps Japan's foremost development in the art of dyeing and certainly among the most difficult and demanding dyeing processes in the world.
The basic design is drawn on the silk by hand, then paste-resist is applied, again by hand, to reserve one colour against another as each detail of the pattern is dyed.
The patterns tend to be complex and naturalistic, flowing across different sections of the kimono, rather than all-over regular patterns. Since the kimono length is not cut until after the dyeing is completed, the design, as it will appear on the finished garment, must be worked out in advance on a paper "pattern". During the 19th century such patterns came to be mass-produced.
Today, certain craftsmen still make lengths of yuzen-dyed fabrics from original designs but because of the time-consuming nature of this technique the fabric is very costly. These craftsmen have many individual styles based on the traditions of Kyoto, Kaga and Edo (Tokyo) yuzen. Originally Kyoto yuzen was known as Kamogawa-zome.