#tsujigahana

[tanuki-kimono]

Romantic spring outfit in soft powdery colors, pairing a kimono depicting sakura (cherry blossoms) petals swirling in a stream, with a woven obi with tsujigahana-inspired flowers.

Tsujigahana is a Muromachi era tie dye technique, especially used for flowery patterns, which was lost and revived by textile artist Itchiku Kubota (I've talked about his works in past notes).

[thekimonogallery]

For many years, until Ichiku Kubota revealed the secrets of creating a kimono (and this happened when the artist was 63 years old), the family lived on the money earned from the sale of his wife’s jewelry.

 When the young 20-year-old artist Ichiku Kubota crossed the threshold of the Tokyo National Museum in 1937, he did not suspect that he was waiting for impressions that would change his whole life. In the halls of the museum, Ichiku first met Tsujigahana (literally, “Flowers at the Crossroads”) - Japanese 16th-century kimono manufacturing techniques that lasted only a hundred years. Kubota was so fascinated by what he saw that he decided to devote his life to the revival of ancient art. In the process of improving Tsudzigahan’s technique, Ichiku Kubota gradually transformed it into his own method, which he later called Ichiku Tsujigahana. Some kimonos created by the master were intended to be worn by connoisseurs and connoisseurs of his art, while others were used in stage productions of the No and Kabuki theater. The remaining works of Ichiku Kubota left in his collection, as they represented the key stages in the evolution of his art.

[text and images from article by Olgado of Russia]

[kimonoquat]

Obi #432519 Kimono Flea Market ICHIROYA

Kimono Flea Market Ichiroya offers you the authentic and charming old kimono direct from Japan with reasonable prices just as the price of the Japanese flea markets !

I think you can tell when Ichiroya lists a particularly good item, they seem to take much better and more detailed shots XD

[missmyloko]

Details of the master. They can't be described by mere words. 一竹辻が花のディテール*面白い*(*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡ #kimono #textilemusuem #itchikukubota #tsujigahana #exhibit #久保田一竹 #着物 #辻が花 #トロント #toronto (at Textile Museum of Canada)

For Tumblr users: Click on the image to see the rest in the set. I uploaded 10 images that Tumblr doesn't feel like showing, so you can really get a better appreciation for it over on Instagram ^^

[joe123is-blog]

Kosode Fragment with Fan Roundels, Flowering Vines, and Wild Ginger Leaves, Japan, Momoyama period (1568-1615), late 16th-early 17th century Costumes; principal attire (entire body)Tsujigahana style; tie-dyeing (kanoko shibori), silk thread embroidery, ink painting (kaki-e), and gold leaf (surihaku) on white plain-weave silk (nerinuki)26 1/4 x 15 1/4 in. (66.67 x 38.74 cm)Gift of Miss Bella Mabury (M.39.2.304)  The LACMA Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Costume and Textiles

Not currently on public view

[tanuki-kimono]

Springy outfit, pairing a fresh blue green kimono with takarazukushi (assorted treasures) some with raden (abalone mother of pearl) inlays, and a lovely tsujigahana (shibori flowers) obi

[tanuki-kimono]

Dreamy pink hues for this outfit, featuring a lovely wool kimono coat, paired with a dreamy kimono with shidarezakura (weeping cherry blossoms) made using tsujigahana technique.

Tsujigahana is an ancient tie and dye craft which appeared during Muromachi period and was revived by textile artist Kubota Itchiku. If you don’t know about his works, please have a look at his museum’s online collections (Symphony of light is a must see <3):

[missmyloko]

What’s That Thing? Part 4

On The Sixth Day of Fun, I present... an interesting question sent in by a reader! When I say that I take your questions to heart I really mean it as they’re what keep this entire thing going. Please, don’t be afraid to ask questions as it’s how we all learn ^^! Anonymous asked: “Hi! I was wondering, would you mind explaining what tsujigahana is? I've tried to Google it but I still don't quite understand how it differs from other dyeing techniques or how to recognize it on a kimono. Thanks and I hope you have a great new year!“ Tsujigahana (辻が花) is one of my favorite techniques, but I love the design motif too. Confused? Bear with me as we delve into the wonderful world of weaving! So, let’s go back, aaaaaaaall the way back (temporarily) to the Momoyama Period (1573-1615). Why then? Well, it gave birth to this:

Image courtesy of Kogirekai on Instagram.  Sure. it doesn’t look like much, but it’s hiding a beautiful secret: its (now faded) patterns and designs. Obviously fabric doesn’t hold up forever, but that we have any fragments is almost a miracle. This browned fabric was once covered in bright colors, but that’s not all. It also featured very fine shibori (tie dyeing) and even hand painted motifs underneath of all that. However, around the time of the Momoyama Period this group of techniques was lost (war tends to disrupt things), and it would remain that way until the 20th century. What happened then? Well, this guy:

Image courtesy of the Itchiku Kubota Archive. That’s Itchiku Kubota (久保田一竹), a man who was inspired by a fragment of fabric much like the one above. It was so intriguing that he made it his life’s work to revive the lost techniques of tsujigahana that he saw on that fabric. So, what did the revived tsujigahana entail? Well: -Step 1: Drawing The artist takes a brush and paints the desired pattern. The motif of tsujigahana came from the early Kubota designs that featured clusters of flowers with wisteria flowing down from them, hence “Tsujigahana” meaning “Trailing/Flowing Flowers.” To watch a video of this process click here.   -Step 2: Threading The areas that would be dyed were small to say the least, with dyeing being done by threading off very small parts of the base fabric (almost always chirimen) until the parts where dye was not currently meant to be applied would be covered by thread. -Step 3: Shibori Dyeing Then, the garment would be very carefully dyed, usually only a few centimeters at a time to ensure that the chosen colors were correct. Sometimes sections would be dyed again in order to blend their colors, so this process for the same part would have to be repeated.  In the end, you have a one-of-a-kind garment that is incredibly laborious to produce. The average tsujigahana kimono takes months to produce, and it’s not at all uncommon for some to take more than a year or two.

Images courtesy of Maruman Kimono on Instagram. That’s what dyed tsujigahana looks like, but when we talk about tsujigahana as a motif we mean anything that looks like tsujigahana, but didn’t involve this dyeing process, such as this bag:

Image courtesy of Kyorin Kimono on Instagram. Since the embroidery was meant to look like tsujigahana it’s also called tsujigahana since it’s referring to its literal meaning rather than what it’s come to represent ^^