About Washizu. Tea Dyeing Studio

Kyoichiro Washizu, the fifth in a line of traditional Suruga wazome dyers in Shizuoka, created ochazome (“tea dyeing”) out of his desire to produce dyed works distinctive to Shizuoka. For the dyeing material, he uses parts of tea plants that are derived in the production process for green tea, a Shizuoka specialty, and are not turned into products. He dyes fabric by combining this dye with stencil dyeing technology.

Washizu also constructed a cyclic scheme whereby the tea dregs left after decoction to obtain the dye are processed for use as fertilizer. He is striving for the spread of this dyeing technology and of cyclic manufacturing that can be achieved on the local level.

The process of tea dyeing

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  01.Dyeing fabric

  Washizu uses plenty of tea leaves that are derived in the process for manufacturing green tea or that were not used for this purpose for various reasons, and takes his time decocting them. During the decoction, he filters out the tea leaves with cotton cloth in order to remove excess dregs that could cause uneven dyeing.

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  02.Simmer dyeing to heighten fastness

  To obtain a fully sufficient degree of fastness, Washizu carefully dyes the fabric by simmering it in water with exacting control of the temperature. After filtering out the decocted leaves and adding iron, he puts the fabric into the water and continues to simmer it while raising the temperature a little at a time. Requiring a considerable expenditure of time and trouble, this process is repeated until the right coloring is obtained.

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  03.Making the stencil

  The artisan devises draft patterns and designs called shitazu. More specifically, shitazu are drawings of running pattern designs and motifs for the target articles and desired images. The artisan then traces these designs and motifs on the stencil paper and cuts them out. This work requires very strong powers of concentration, as it has a particularly direct bearing on the quality of the finished product.

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  04.Glue blocking

  The artisan lays the stencil on the tea-dyed fabric, and then applies titanium glue on top of the stencil, both evenly and with a proper thickness. Once this is done, the stencil is slowly lifted off the fabric.

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  05.Steaming

  To have the glue applied to the fabric fully develop the coloring, it is exposed to hot steam for about 20 minutes.

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  06.Rinsing

  Lastly, the fabric is put into water and rinsed to remove the glue.

As might be gathered from the many place-names related to fabric, Shizuoka has been a center of weaving and dyeing since the days of the 16th century warlord Imagawa Yoshimoto. The start of the Meiji era in the middle of the 19th century saw the mechanization of weaving and decrease in dyeing work. However, with the rise of the folk crafts movement in the Taisho era (1912-1926), Keisuke Serizawa, a dyer who was designated a living national treasure, led activities that refined techniques and designs, and gave birth to the features of Suruga wazome dyeing.

With this background, Washizu has breathed new life into tea, which is loved around the world in the form of a beverage, as a natural dye with a unique texture. Articles dyed with tea as a natural dye are produced by a sequence of process steps, each entailing meticulous work. Washizu prepared a process which pursues a finished dye that is fast and produces excellent coloring. In addition, he uses stencil dyeing to create all sorts of patterns and designs.

Deshitabi Schedule

The program schedule is subject to change without notice.

Washizu. Tea Dyeing Studio

Washizu. uses tea leaves that are left over from the tea-making manufacturing process as a dye, and creates hand-dyed crafts using the traditional Shizuoka technique of "Suruga wazome". Their products range from everyday items such as hand towels and T-shirts to clutch bags made from Enshu-sashiko fabric.
www.ochazome-shizuoka-japan.com