To learn about Okan Arts’ textile tours to Japan +click here
By Patricia Belyea
KYOTO JP There are so many things I’d love to show you from the Blue Japan Indigo Tour! Honestly, the best way is through pictures.
Almost every day included a hands-on mini-workshop such as:
Japanese Stab Binding — creating our own temple books, then cutting stencils and yuzen-dyeing colorful graphics for the covers
Indigo Dyeing — using shibori techniques at a 15th-generation dye house in the mountain town of Gujo Hachiman
Shirushizome Dyeing — brush-painting dyes onto our own koi banners at a 110-year-old flag factory
Natural Dyeing — making our own batches of benibana (safflower blossom) and dyeing shibori-stitched pouches in a botanical dye studio
Persimmon Dyeing — learning about kakishibu (persimmon tannin) and mordants while dyeing our own tenugui at a second-generation dye house in the historic town of Ohara
Indigo Dyeing in Tokushima — dyeing cotton squares at Ai-no Yakata, an indigo museum in Japan’s last remaining indigo-growing region
Papermaking — crafting handmade washi paper, embellished with indigo-dyed accents, right on the factory floor of a famous paper maker
Kumihimo Braiding — weaving our own silk-thread bracelets using a traditional marudai (round wooden stand) and weighted cords
To meet the indigo luminaries and see the special places we visited on the Blue Japan Indigo Tour, continue to Bllue Japan Recap :: Part Two +here
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ABOUT US: Okan Arts, a petite family business, is co-owned by mother-daughter duo Patricia Belyea and Victoria Stone. Patricia and Victoria import vintage Japanese textiles, host in-person and online creative quilting experiences, and lead textile tours to Japan.
FOLLOW OKAN ARTS ON INSTAGRAM @okanarts
