A ten day immersion workshop experimenting with traditional indigo dying run by a very talented textile artist Bryan Whitehead in the mountains outside of Tokyo highlighted to me the extensive and beautiful design aesthetic and cultural resonance that is found pretty much everywhere in Japan.
The ethnobotanical heritage of a rather unassuming wild annual plant found on many of the rural roadsides of Japan (pictured above) Indigofera tinctoria (Japanese knotweed/indigo) is vast and is a fascinating exploration of the relationship between human culture and craft - utilising the resources of plants found around us.
Japanese indigo is in itself a beautiful annual that was traditionally grown for harvesting for the dye pot in neat rows (as all agriculture is in Japan).
The flowers are a lovely shade of deep pink but it is the leaves that
yield the magical indican chemical that produces the amazing blue colour
so sought after across the world.
We were working in a traditional silk farming house and the indigo vats were set up for daily use.
The workshop was fantastic as we experimented with a range of traditional stitching and stencil techniques from Japan that created a range of patterns on cloth when dyed with indigo - shibori, mokume, katazome.
A very special treat was a trip to one of the few remaining katazome and natural fermentation indigo dyers. Mr Noguchi san is a 7th generation katazome specialist and creates stunning Kimono fabric using stencils on fabric.
Again, plant resources in the form of a paste made from glutinous rice powder and rice bran is spread over the delicately intricate stencils on katagame paper (mulberry paper and persimmon tannin - our use of plants never ceases to amaze me)!!
The paste is spread.
Stencils - some centuries old are an incredible feat of artistic endeavour in themselves.
The ceramic vats are dug into the ground to keep them warm and help pamper the delicate natural indigo fermentation.
The all important indigo flower showed us how good these indigo vats were and their readiness for accepting the cloth.
After dying and dipping for the required depth of blue, another local plant resource - the fire bush is used to make brushes to remove the paste from the fabric.
And the end result is a wonderful sample of stenciled and patterned fabric.
The mountain setting for the workshop was a treat in itself, surrounded by tea plantations on the slopes
and rocky rivers and streams in the base of the mountain valley.
Moss covered rocks and stone lanterns
towering Cypress trees
Lovely roadside plants
including the gorgeous Japanese anemone
And on the side of a mountain road, sitting in the forest, a rock inscribed with Japanese text, written centuries previously by the famous haiku writer Basho.
Order and simplicity is a feature of Japanese culture that is manifest right down to the vegetable gardens that were scattered throughout the mountains, supplying fresh vegetables to the local people.
Ogata san, shared her 97 years of wisdom and skill in making the best udon noodles.
Udon were common in the poor mountain areas as everyone could grow wheat and millet and could therefore make udon - often eating them 3 times daily.
Mixed with fresh vegetables from the garden and a broth of wild mushrooms - there is nothing better!
Edo period rag weaving or saki ori (riches from rags) is a recycling tradition found in rural clothing. Scraps of indigo dyed cotton rags were bought by farmers and woven on a backstop loom into new fabric.
The detail and texture of the up-cycled material is divine.
Homework on the course was stitching of fabric to create the woodgrain pattern known as mokume. It was a very time-consuming exercise.
We then pulled the threads together, and dyed the resulting strap of fabric.
Hard work, but the result was worth it.
Rope wrapped pleated cloth resulted in a beautiful pattern.
Different approaches to stitching created a variety of patterns.
Simple screen printing with maple leaves produced a lovely result also.
The setting for our exploration of indigo and Japanese culture could not have been better - a beautiful traditional silk farming house in a forested mountain valley - stunning.
Home cooked Chilean BBQ around the fire pit on the last night was a fitting end to our experience.
Thanks team (pictured above) for your wonderful company and all the laughter and learning.
But most of all thank you Japan, Bryan, Hiro and friends for a truly inspiring exploration of an aesthetic that honors and understands the beauty in honesty, imperfection and simplicity.
