Kyoto Handpainted Yūzen Dyeing

Yūzen is a dyeing technique of that uses a resist of glutinous rice paste to differentiate the color of the ground and the design. The procedure involves numerous processes, each of which is handled by a different specialist in assembly-line fashion. When a kimono shop receives an order for a yūzen kimono, someone known as a shikkai (literally, “do-everything”) or, more recently, a senshō (master dyer), makes the rounds of various artisans and ateliers bearing a roll of white cloth. Assorted professionals combine their highly specialized skills over a period of months to produce the finished garment.

As Japan entered modernity, chemical dyes (synthetic dyes) were introduced from overseas. Horikawa Shinzaburō (1851–1914) and Hirose Jisuke (1822–1890) developed a technique of coloring textiles with paste-resist using chemical dyes, which formed the technical foundation for stencil yūzen (kata yūzen). This was a forerunner of the technique of printing designs. Some kimono shops employed professional painters to draw the basic designs, resulting in the appearence of more realistic and unconventional patterns. By the Taishō period (1912–1926), there were professional “patternmakers” (zuanka) who created various unique textile designs.

The outline of the design is covered with a rice paste to prevent transfer of the dye. Long ago a heated mixture of glutinous rice, white or red rice bran, lime, and sappanwood, called manori, was used. Today gum Arabic is also used. The choice of paste affects the order of the procedure and the final result. The paste is applied using a funnel fashioned from handmade washi paper brushed with persimmon tannin, with a narrow metal tip. The delicate, fine lines of the resist clearly separate the various colors.

The cloth is placed in a steaming box to fix the dye with heat and moisture. Afterward, it is rinsed in water to remove the paste and excess dye. This step, known as yūzen nagashi (flowing yūzen), was formerly done in the main rivers of Kyoto: Kamo, Hori, Katsura, Shirakawa, and Kamiya. The rivers would change color, depending on the hue of the dye used. Mounting environmental awareness led to the Water Pollution Control Act of 1970. Washing of dyed textiles is no longer done in the river, but in workshops using artificial waterways. 

After the cloth is steamed to remove wrinkles (yunoshi), it is ready to be decorated with embroidery or leaf (kindami), and to have the colors touched up. In kindami, also known as inkin (stamping gold), gold or silver leaf or other metallic powder is adhered to the cloth. Other techniques include surihaku, where paste is stenciled on the fabric and gold foil impressed on top; sunako, where gold dust is scattered on the fabric using a bamboo tube called a tōshi; and kindeigaki, where gold paint is applied with a brush. After the final touches of embroidery and/or application of acrylic color or pigment to details of flowering plants or facial expression, at long last the textile is finished.