What is Aperture? !

 

  ■ Japan's oldest dyeing - shibori -

 

Tie-dyeing is a typical dyeing technique that was already practiced in Japan around the 6th and 7th centuries, and it colors our modern lives beautifully. The technique is based on the simple principle of resist dyeing, which creates "grains" and "wrinkles" by strongly binding the fabric with threads. Tie-dyeing is still seen in Japan, India, and Africa, and has been excavated from archaeological sites in Central Asia and Peru. Because the technique is extremely simple, it is thought that this was done spontaneously in various places. Since it was introduced to Japan, it has undergone remarkable development and has become a traditional dyeing and weaving that represents Japan and is still widely loved today.

 

 

 

■ ～Early modern period (Edo period)～

 

Japanese shibori can be broadly classified into two types.

One is "Kyo Kanoko", which is made by finely tying silk fabric. "Kyoto Kanoko" is a general term for "Hikita Kanoko Tie-dyeing" which is produced in Kyoto. After the middle of the Edo period, many other techniques were developed and progressed in addition to "Hikita Kanoko Shibori", and later Kyo Shibori was further developed. There are many ``Kanoko'' relics from the Edo period, and the exquisite craftsmanship of ``Honza Kanoko,'' in which no sketches are drawn and no Kanoko needles are used, and only the sense of the fingertips is astounding. .

 

In traditional tie-dyeing, wrinkles were not considered important. Since tie-dyeing was used as a means of resist dyeing and as a means of separating dyes, it was customary to stretch out the peculiar unevenness after dyeing. However, in the Edo period, in order to distinguish it from imitations such as ``Suribikida'' and ``Uchidashi Kanoko'', which will be described later, it is said that the symbolic wrinkles of the cloth surface are important and the unevenness is left as a handwork. It added value and emphasized that it was a luxury item.

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On the other hand, there is also a popular shibori that uses "indigo" on linen and cotton. Originally home-made and for personal use, this has become a specialty, the technology has been refined little by little, and it has come to be treated as a commodity. The areas where this was most active were Bungo (Oita), Takase (Kumamoto), and areas around Arimatsu and Narumi in Owari-Nagoya. It is written in the book "Kofukigusa" that cotton shibori existed in Takase in Bungo (Oita) and Higo in Kyushu in the early Edo period. "Bungo Shibori" seems to have already begun to be bound around the beginning of 1600, and it is said that it was widely known nationwide from the Edo period to the end of the Meiji period, as it was described in many travelogues, product books, and ukiyo-e prints. It seems.

 

From the Keicho era to the Kan'ei era (early 1600), the Tokugawa shogunate laid the groundwork for a new social system. The kimonos of that period were called Keicho kosode, Keicho pattern, etc., and they used a lot of black backgrounds, and the patterns were often expressed by shibori, embroidery, and foil. According to the story about Shibori around this time, when the shogun Iemitsu danced at the invitation of Masamune Date on New Year's Day in the 12th year of the Kan'ei era, Masamune wore a kosode of "Hiwa Kanoko". Also, in July, Yoshinao Tokugawa invited Iemitsu to watch the dance, and the dancer at this time was wearing a chirimen sash 'Red Kanoko'. Shibori in the Tokugawa period flourished in the culture of wealthy townspeople. The labor-intensive fully tied kimono showed the wealth of the townspeople who spared no expense, and the theater and the red-light district became the source of the kimono fashion.

 

Let's think about the ``theater'' and ``playground'' that supported the tie-dyed kimono of the Edo period. The society of the Edo period was a strict management society, and most of food, clothing and shelter were controlled by samurai ethics. Among them, the only world that was liberated was "brothel" and "theater viewing". These two were the only worlds outside of the order in the feudal society, which consisted of the order of ranks and occupations of the peasants, farmers, craftsmen, and commerce. It can be said that it is a clever management policy of the shogunate. The ornate kosode was favored by shogunate feudal lords, high-ranking bureaucrats, court nobles, wealthy townspeople, and even the red-light Tayu. Under such circumstances, it was only natural that Kanoko was touted. For example, there is Tayu Kanoko. The hemp leaf pattern was called Hanshiro Kanoko after Hanshiro Iwai, who liked it, and the costumes of theater actors were always the source of fashion.

 

Before long, clothes using kanoko came to be widely used not only in big cities such as Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka, but also in regional cities. This can be seen from the fact that many kanoko can be seen in the pawn ledger entries at the time. However, the shogunate tried to save money by controlling prices against such a gorgeous fashion. This will give a big blow to Kanoko's heyday.

 

This is the "Sokanoko Prohibition Ordinance" issued in February of the third year of Tenwa. Along with this ban, the expression method of patterns had to change, and a new pattern dyeing called "Yuzen dyeing" appeared. Due to the combination of the new pattern dyeing "Yuzen" and the prohibition, the expression of patterns by kanoko has relatively declined since then. Regarding this ban, there is a story about a silk wholesaler in Kanazawa in "Honcho Twenty Fuko" (Jokyo 3). Regarding the arrangement of the bride's wedding accessories for her daughter Kozuru, it says, ``As for the costume, the taboo is observant, and the secret is a variety of Kanoko.'' It goes without saying that this prohibition is a ban in the third year of Tenwa, but judging from this sentence, it seems that this ban was not very strict. The ban on the extravagance of women's costumes is well known in the previous Tenna 3rd year, and a thrift ordinance was issued in the Kyoho 9th year. This was confirmed again in the first year of the Kansei era, and was notified as a town touch. After this, in the second half of the 13th year of Tempo (1842), the famous thrifty edict of Tadakuni Mizuno was issued. In Edo, city directors were set up, who toured towns and cities to investigate the manners and customs, and strictly controlled glamour and extravagance.

 

 

 

■ ~Tsujigahana~

 

Tsujigahana-zome, which was popular from the end of the Muromachi period to the Azuchi-Momoyama period and the early Edo period from the 15th century, refers to the addition of drawing pictures, embroidery, and printing foil to picture pattern dyeing, mainly tie-dyeing. However, it is not known exactly when the word "Tsujigahana" was born and what kind of dyed fabric it is. Looking at the origin of 'Tsujigahana dyeing' historically, kosode, which was traditionally worn by commoners and lower-class samurai families, began to be worn as outerwear by upper-class people around the Muromachi period. Starting from.

 

Tie-dyeing, which had been used for the clothes of samurai and commoners in the Middle Ages, was first adopted, and by adding paintings, etc., it became known as tsuji. It developed into gahana dyeing. And there are two types, one that expresses the pattern only by shibori, and the other that adds other techniques to the shibori. It becomes the foundation.

 

In the middle of the 15th century, it appeared in the kosode of the common people, and eventually spread to the wives of samurai families, children, and young men. However, at this time, it was still not worn by adult men except in special cases. As the Warring States period approached and political leadership passed from court nobles to samurai families, clothing also shifted from weaving to dyeing. It came to be worn by warlords, and in the Taikoki, it is written that 'Tsujigahana' was included in the gifts Toyotomi Hideyoshi gave to the Ming messenger when he returned to Japan.

 

In addition to Hideyoshi, you can see "Tsujigahana" among the relics of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Uesugi Kenshin. Ink paintings are drawn in the shibori of "Tsujigahana" at this time, and the reason why the ink is blurred is probably due to the influence of ink painting hanging scrolls that were introduced from the Song dynasty at that time. After that, after entering the Edo period, "Tsujigahana" began to show a different flavor from the beginning, such as placing gold leaf and embroidering, gradually becoming more luxurious and developing greatly. is. Against the backdrop of the development of tie-dyeing in the Middle Ages, the fact that kosode, which was originally an undergarment, came to be used as an outer garment was a major change, and can be said to be the beginning of the modern kimono. In addition, the fact that this type of kosode outerwear was established as a pattern processing technique has great significance as a bridge from the medieval dyeing and weaving to the early modern dyeing and weaving.

 

 

 

The text was created by Kenji Yoshioka, director of the Kyoto Shibori Crafts Museum, for a lecture on traditional crafts at Doshisha Women's University.