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By Patricia Belyea
OHARA JP Many, many Japanese folk textiles are dyed with indigo and kaki—Japanese persimmon dye. You know the color: it’s similar to Carhartt pumpkin.
Yuki Mizuki, my fabric-designer friend, and I drove north of Kyoto to visit Takeshi Yasui, a second-generation kakishibuzome master at his family’s business Mitsuru Kogei. Takeshi warmly welcomed us into his world.
Unpacking from a recent show, Takeshi held up one of his creations—a ramie noren featuring a bold yellow catfish — a symbol of good luck. The delightful yellow color was produced using natural pomegranate dye.
To start our time together, we strolled down the road to see his persimmon trees — now bare except for a few holdouts from this year’s harvest.
Displaying his use of small, unripe bitter persimmons, Takeshi showed us wax models of the fruit. They were incredibly cute!
The real persimmons are crushed, pressed, and the juice is left to ferment for two years or more. Starting as a yellow-green liquid, the matured dye juice deepens to a rich tea brown.
We followed Takeshi through his studio, learning about more botanical dyes, his katazome work, and other dyeing techniques used at Mitsuru Kogei.
Takeshi emphasized the importance of clean mountain water with his art.
Our conversation also touched on the popularity of indigo these days and the relative obscureness of persimmon dye. Takeshi lamented that it was frustrating that there was so little buzz about kakishibuzome.
Okan Arts definitely wants to include Mitsuru Kogei in the Blue Japan Indigo Tour. Not only will we experience immersion dyeing with kaki, but we’ll also apply a mordant—iron, titanium, or lime—to complete the kakishibu process. The mordant choice will affect the project’s final shade of brown.
There will be time to explore the nearby Jakkō-in Temple, a hidden gem with its secluded grounds and dreamy atmosphere. Plus, time to shop!
To visit Mitsuru Kogei’s website +click here
Location
60 Ohara Kusaocho, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, 601-1248
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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 sell Japanese textiles online, host creative quilting experiences, and lead quilting & textile tours to Japan.
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