Survey: Chusen

Rediscovering the traditional Japanese dyeing techniques of 'nijimi' (ink bleeding) and 'bokashi' (gradation) that have been passed down for over 100 years.

Since the Edo period, Hamamatsu City in Shizuoka Prefecture has been one of Japan's leading cotton textile producing regions. The traditional fabric produced there, known as 'Enshu Men Tsumugi,' has long been used to make clothing for the common people of the area. A traditional Japanese dyeing technique that has been passed down for over 100 years can be found in Hamamatsu.

'Chusen,' which derived its name from the Japanese phrase for 'pouring dye,' is a traditional dye blocking method that pours dye onto the fabric with a watering pot-shaped tool to create random patterns while applying glue to specific parts of the fabric to prevent them from being colored. The dyeing, which is done completely by the hands of highly experienced artisans, results in a blend of soft features thanks to the unique ink bleeding and gradation of the color patterns.

The chusen dyeing technique was developed in Osaka during the Meiji period, and was passed down to artisans in Hamamatsu. The technique initially spread as a means of dyeing tenugui, or traditional Japanese hand towels, but after the Great Kanto earthquake of Taisho 12 (1923), many artisans involved in the manufacturing of yukata (informal cotton kimono) who lived in the Tokyo Metropolitan area moved to Enshu (the western part of Shizuoka Prefecture), which prompted an increase in the creation of hand-dyed yukata using the chusen technique.

Yukata production reached its peak during the third decade of the Showa period (1950s), but soon declined due to changes in lifestyles and the flood of cheaper foreign products. The number of factories that used the chusen technique also dropped. Where there used to be close to 100 factories, today there are only a handful left in the region.

Stemming back from when the company was founded in Showa 2 (1927), Nihashi Senkoujyou Co., Ltd has produced countless luxury chusen products.

Handling all aspects of the dyeing process, from sarashi (bleaching), dyeing, drying, and finishing, where these techniques have been preserved and passed down until even today. Every day inside the factory, artisans work silently with fabrics and dyes.

First, a pattern is placed on top of the bleached fabric, and a dye-resistant paste made from a mixture of clay, sticky rice flour, and seaweed is spread repeatedly using a spatula to trace the pattern onto the fabric. The fabric is then placed on top of a special dyeing bed, and after the dyes are poured onto the surface of the starched textile using a tool called a 'yakan,' it is sucked from below by a compressor (a vacuum pump), allowing the dyes to permeate the layered textiles.

Repeating this process results in the exact same color shade and pattern quality on both sides. The fabrics are then washed with water, and hung from the ceiling to dry under sunlight in a drying area. Once dry, they are rolled out to eliminate wrinkles, and then passed on to the finishing process, where they are cut to shape.

The preparation and color bleeding of the dyes, as well as the degree of dye permeation to the layered fabrics may fluctuate due to aspects such as the type of materials used, the temperature and humidity, and even the slightest differences in the timing of the work, so the sensitivity of experienced artisans is required.

The depth of the patterns created by the distinct color bleeding and the slightly random contours cannot be reproduced with print dyeing that utilizes machines. We would like to bring this unique technique, which is found only in Japan, to the attention of more people.

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Product Introspection: Mud Dye

Unevenness allows for each wearer's personality to be reflected, a subtle depth of character to be felt. I wanted to imbue modern products with these qualities that natural dyes possess, and have experimented in variety of ways to further this aim.

From a mud and indigo hybrid dyeing technique to dorozuke, a 'mud application' technique where the mud used in mud dyeing is applied to the surface of a garment to give it additional depth. I believe there are still so many possibilities with natural dye. We want to utilize traditional techniques, while at the same time using different materials and processes to create something fresh and new. We will continue engaging in these interesting experiments hand-in-hand with like-minded artisans.

Mud Dye

Dorozome, or mud dyeing, is a 1,300 year old technique from Amami Oshima that is used to produce the unique black color of the traditional Japanese silk garment, Oshima Tsumugi. A flowering plant known in Japan as sharinbai (Rhaphiolepis umbellata) is boiled down in a large vat for two days in order to create a liquid extract. A piece of fabric is then dipped repeatedly in this extract, and afterwards immersed in mud.

This causes a chemical reaction between the acid pigment in the sharinbai extract and the iron in the mud, which gives birth to a deep, uniquely lustrous black dye. Mud-dyed garments are soft and pliant but hold their shape, and are also resistant to fire and dirt. Unfortunately, these unique dyeing techniques, along with the production of traditional Japanese garments, are becoming increasingly obsolete due to changes in modern lifestyles, with entire traditional production industries facing extinction.

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Carry On

Norah Jones

Edward Sheriff Curtis

Edward S. Curtis is an American hero who created one of the most enduring and iconic visual records in the history of the photographic medium, a record that has informed our vision of who we are and where we came from. The images he created during his extraordinary, thirty-year odyssey have touched viewers throughout the world. Today he is believed to be the world's most widely collected and exhibited fine art photographer. Over one thousand books, reviews, and articles have been written about Curtis and/or illustrated by his photographs, and his work has been exhibited in hundreds of venues in over forty countries. He was an award-winning artist, a consummate craftsman, a visionary, an intrepid entrepreneur, a technical innovator, a respected ethnographer, a superbly accomplished publisher, and a groundbreaking filmmaker. He was championed by Teddy Roosevelt, had the backing of the world's wealthiest man, J.P Morgan, and was literally front-page news across the nation; all this armed only with a sixth-grade education and a childhood steeped in abject poverty.

His work changed the way an entire nation viewed Native Americans. He accomplished this at a time when some individuals were actively advocating for the extinction of all Native people on this continent. His images have also moved and inspired extraordinarily broad and diverse audiences, transcending economic, cultural, social, educational, and national boundaries. Curtis co-created this unparalleled artistic, anthropological, and historic record with an estimated 10,000 Native participants. Today many Native people and their tribes find Curtis' work an invaluable source for cultural and linguistic revivification. Over the past fourteen years Christopher Cardozo Fine Art has reached 10-15 million people on six continents with Curtis' message of Beauty, Heart, And Spirit. As we enter this unprecedented renaissance of appreciation for Curtis' work, it is our commitment to reach another 10-15 million people worldwide by the end of 2018.

- Christopher Cardozo

Dunkirk

Dunkirk

Dissertation On Self-Reflection

"Where did you travel to for the development of this collection?""Was there something particular you did to gain inspiration?" I get asked these kinds of questions a lot during interviews with journalists. Evidently it seems their image of me is that I am always traveling.

I wake up every morning at 5:00 to prepare breakfast for my daughter. After driving my daughter to school and gazing at the morning sun, I make a pit stop at the gas station to fill up the tank. I drop by the super market to buy food for my staff and wife, then we get to work at my atelier. As the design work starts to pick up momentum my daughter comes home from school and we draw together. We all have a great time as we eat together and before I know it the day is finished.

This development process is nothing spectacular. There are however moments of discovery and excitement in the simply daily routine.

The color of the morning sun. The color of the sky.

An old album cover that suddenly catches my eye.

The color of the sweater being worn by my daughter.

The cloth covering my table in the atelier.

At that moment depending on the way I may see things (my perspective) these things become inspiration. What's important is the choice I make on how I see certain things or think about certain things.

I like the photography of Edward Curtis. He was an American photographer and ethnologist; when I see the photos he took I become strongly aware of his choice. Curtis documented the American West and the Native American people with his photography from the late 19th century to the early 20th century.

In any photo I see of his, he has been able to capture in an image the beauty, strength, pride, and sensitivity of his subject.

I decided to take a portrait of myself using an old technique. I stood in front of the lens for six seconds while wearing the product we developed and made.

I wonder what kind of image will show itself on the glass plate.

- Hiroki Nakamura

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