What is Kyo-Yuzen?

Yuzen is the most common technique used in the dyeing of Japanese kimono fabric. The yuzen technique was invented in the Edo period around 1700 by a fan painter in Kyoto named Yuzensai Miyazaki. He was a very talented artist and his patterns and color sense became very popular and much in demand. With the popularity of his fans, be began to receive commissions from aristocrats to paint kimono fabric.

Yuzensai Miyazaki

Yuzensai Miyazaki developed a process to create high quality dyed fabric whose art would be permanent unable to be ruined by rain, humidity, sweat or sunlight, yet retain the artistic qualities of hand painted artwork. With combinations of stencil, brush and resist techniques, the dye craftsmen created fabric that was its own art-form. The characteristic point of yuzen dyeing is to dye complicated patterns with many colors and tonal gradation. And, of course with this new dyeing process fabric could be produced in larger quantities than by hand-painting.

With this process, the fabric is dyed, steamed, washed and dried. The steaming process permanently sets the dye in the fabric. Without these labor intensive steps, the dyed product cannot be called yuzen.

At Pagong, we have inherited this rich culture, and the techniques developed by Yuzensai Miyazaki, which are evolving, and have been improved by countless Kyoto craftsmen over the centuries. We are all very honored to bring the Kyoto-Yuzen tradition to our clothing.

Yuzensai Miyazaki

Yuzen dyeing and Nishijin textile

While Yuzen dyeing involves dyeing the white fabric to create a pattern (piece-dyed), Nishijin-ori creates the pattern by weaving the cloth using dyed threads (yarn-dying).

This is the difference between Yuzen-zome, which creates patterns by dyeing, and Nishijin-ori, which creates patterns by weaving.

Kyo Yuzen technique

There are two main methods of Kyo Yuzen.

1. Kata Yuzen
This is a method of dyeing using paper patterns cut out. Because a mold is used, you can dye as many kimonos as you want with the same pattern. You will need as many patterns as the number of colors in the pattern. Hundreds of patterns are often used to complete one kimono. Currently, fabrics are dyed using this technique at the Kamedatomi dyeing factory.

2. Hand-painted Yuzen
This is a method of dyeing by applying colors by hand using a brush or brush without using a paper pattern. This technique was started by Miyazaki Yuzensai, the founder of Yuzen dyeing. Make a one-of-a-kind kimono.