KATAZOME FABRICS 
There is something beguiling about the crisp edges of Japanese stencil-dyed ‘katazome' fabrics. During the Edo period (1615 - 1867), every village had an indigo dyer and that ‘country' palette of blue and white has survived to modern times in Japan. Early examples of katazome cloth with their mellow and harmonious palette printed through hand-cut stencils on slubby hand-woven hemp and cotton create a visual harmony that is difficult to match in any other culture.
Stencil dyeing or ‘katazome' has a long history in Japan. There are examples of stencil-printed papers dating from the 7th century (Nara period) in the Shosoin Treasure House in Japan. By the Edo period the technique was sophisticated and versatile enough to use on anything from farmer's work clothes to the elegant robes of samurai and wealthy townspeople.
The process of produ
cing katazome textiles is intricate and labour-intensive. Layers of hand-made mulberry paper are laminated together with the juice of the persimmon fruit making the stencil water resistant, and then intricate designs taken from nature are cut into the stencil with fine-edged tools. These exquisitely cut stencils are works of art in themselves and many have been preserved in museums and private collections in Japan and abroad, including an extensive collection held by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Once the stencils are produced, the fabric to be printed is stretched taut and the stencil is applied to an area of fabric. A paste made from rice flour and bran is applied to the fabric through the stencil, creating an area where dye cannot penetrate. The paste is allowed to dry thoroughly and then the background dye is painted onto the fabric, or in some cases the fabric is immersed in a dye-vat. Sometimes the dye is applied two or three times in order to reach the desired depth of colour. 
Once the dyer is happy with the colour the fabric is immersed in water and the paste resist is washed away. Historically the fabrics were washed in a stream with the current of the stream acting as a gentle agitator to remove the paste. Not surprising that one of the Japanese's favourite motifs is of maple leaves floating in the eddies of a stream, a motif that you will see repeated in many Japanese textiles and kimono.
One man in particular has carried on the tradition of katazome and brought it into the 21st century. In 1983 Gensho Sasakura, Chairman of Genshodo Fabrics and author of a well-known reference book about indigo-dying techniques (Tsutsugaki Textiles of Japan) won a Governor's Prize for his devotion to reproducing traditional indigo fabrics. His dedication to reproducing the exact touch and feel of Edo-period cloth has resulted in a collection of indigo-dyed fabrics whose designs are faithful reproducti
ons of that period.
These beautifully soft fabrics are screen-printed by hand (a modern evolution of katazome) in a small studio in Kyoto. The resist method is still used, and the designs are achieved either by discharge, whereby the design is bleached giving a lighter blue, or by direct dyeing of the design through the screen. Fabric is printed in lengths of 10 metres, with the screen being placed at regular and precise intervals to achieve the continuation of pattern.
This article has been written by Helen Smith, a UK-based Japanese textile specialist, has recently been made the sole distributor for Genshodo Fabrics in the UK and Europe. An extensive selection of the fabrics can be seen on her website, http://www.clothaholics.com/, along with a collection of bags made by Genshodo from their own fabrics.
