Yuzen Dyeing Atelierー Sensho Ichikawa （染匠市川株式会社）, Kyoto ①

 Japanese Uzen Kimono fascinate every people.

 But how is that created?

This is Yuzen Dyeing Atelier,Sensho Ichikawa（染匠市川株式会社）in Kyoto.

web   http://www.sensyou-ichikawa.com/

The nearest subway station is Marutamachi.(丸太町）

They create,sell,and repair Yuzen kimono.

This is one of the leading companies of Yuzen in Kyoto.

Atelier observation is always welcome.(A reservation is needed.)

What is "Sensho"?

"Sensho" is people who control and give a command every artisans and contractors when they create Yuzen kimono.

Sensho is like headquarters in creating kimono.

There are about four processes in creating Yuzen.

First,they decide composition of kimono,(draw a rough sketch of kimono)

And secondly,they decide and choose skillful artisans,and give them direction.

Thirdly,they decide color arrangement of kimono.

And last,they give artisans final direction. (embroidery,gold-leaf folding,etc...)

These are Yuzen (made here). The description is delicate and vivid. 

These are processes of dyeing Yuzen.(photos below)

This is the rough sketch of Yuzen.This is drawn by green grass.

And they trace all the outline by specilal paste.

This is the preparations before dyeing.

Wow! It is dyed.That's great.

This is the preparation,too.

We have to dye background.

If dyes run and spread,it ruins everything,

So this preparation is to avoid running dyes.

Oh,it's really wonderful.

This is also preparation before dyeing.

This is the reverse side of the cloth.

In kimono,the left designs and right designs should be matched exactly,

like when we put together a jigsaw puzzle.  

This is the main front part of a kimono.

To be continued...