[Complete Guide to Kyo-Yuzen] Dyeing My Own One-of-a-Kind Piece in Kyoto

Yuzen dyeing has three major production areas: Kyo-Yuzen, Kaga-Yuzen, and Tokyo Yuzen.

In general, Yuzen dyeing is made through a division of labor involving many artisans. The process also differs slightly depending on whether it is hand-painted Yuzen or stencil Yuzen. In this section, we introduce the general steps for hand-painted Yuzen and stencil Yuzen in Kyo-Yuzen. You’ll see just how much effort and artisan skill go into creating a single Yuzen piece.

Mizumoto is one step in the Yuzen dyeing process. For Kyo-Yuzen, mizumoto washing had been carried out in rivers within Kyoto, such as the Kamo River, Kamiya River, Shirakawa River, and Katsura River, since around 1902. At the time, natural rivers were used for mizumoto to wash excess dye and paste from the fabric. The sight of colorful bolts of fabric floating in the river was called Yuzen Nagashi and was one of Kyoto’s beautiful scenes, fitting for a city known for kimono.

However, changes in Japan’s industries led to laws prohibiting the discharge of industrial wastewater and similar practices. The same applied to Yuzen Nagashi, making it impossible to use natural rivers for mizumoto work, and by around 1955, this beautiful scene could no longer be seen.

Today, in the hope of passing on this Kyoto-like scene of a kimono town to future generations, Yuzen Nagashi is held as an event during Kamogawa Noryo, Kyoto’s summer festival, on the Kamo River in central Kyoto every year in early August. Visitors can watch the demonstration up close. Colorful bolts of fabric spread across the Kamo River and swaying with the current create a stunning sight! If you can, plan your visit to Kyoto around this special event.

There is a workshop in Kyoto’s Nakagyo Ward where you can try Kyo-Yuzen yourself: Kyo-Yuzen Workshop Marumasu Nishimuraya. In Kyoto, it began more than 110 years ago as a workshop specializing in hikizome, one of the Kyo-Yuzen processes. The workshop has long pursued the craft of dyeing, but as times changed and people wore kimono less often in daily life, Kyo-Yuzen became less familiar. Believing that people today should also have the chance to learn about the appeal of Kyo-Yuzen, the workshop began offering Kyo-Yuzen experiences Approx. 30 years ago.

At this workshop, you can try surikomi Yuzen, a form of stencil Yuzen within Kyo-Yuzen. This is Yuzen dyeing using stencils, and some experiences take only around one hour. That makes it easy even for beginners to join.

It is about a 10-minute walk from Karasuma Oike Station. Nearby is the popular sightseeing spot Nijo Castle. As you walk deeper in from the street, the workshop of Kyo-Yuzen Workshop Marumasu Nishimuraya appears. Its long, narrow layout is characteristic of Kyoto machiya townhouses, often called “eel’s bed” homes.

When you enter the shop, you’ll see rows of coin purses, pouches, smartphone cases, and other items made with stencil Yuzen and hand-painted Yuzen near the entrance. You can purchase them as well. Each piece is handmade, and you can feel that warmth.

First, decide which material you want to decorate with stencil Yuzen. Popular choices include pencil cases, school totes, tumblers, and cotton drawstring bags. Prices vary depending on the material, but they start at 1,600 yen, making the experience easy to try. For this visit, we chose a handkerchief.

Once you have chosen your material, decide which stencil to use for dyeing. Stencils are selected from 240 stencil files divided by type, such as plants and flowers, animals, mythical beasts, and the Four Symbols. The workshop has about 80 files, and each file contains around 20 stencils, so even a rough calculation gives you 1,600 stencil designs. The artisan said there are other stencils as well, so there may be around 3,000 types. What’s more, they continue to create new designs and turn them into stencils every day. From this huge selection, you can decide what kind of design you want. To make a Kyoto-style handkerchief, we chose the back view of a maiko and the torii gates of Fushimi.

Each design comes with one to five stencils, which are layered as you dye. The stencils are numbered, so it is easy to see the order in which to dye them.

Next, place the material on the table and smooth out any wrinkles. The key is to do this carefully. If the wrinkles are not smoothed out, those areas will not dye properly. Be careful!

After deciding where to dye, place only the first stencil and use pins to fasten it in two places near the top. To keep the second and later stencils from shifting, mark the two lower corners with masking tape.

There are 10 dye colors: yellow, red, pink, light blue, pale purple, purple, blue, brown, black, and green. You can also combine them. When layering colors, dyeing from light colors to dark colors produces a beautiful finish.

Hold the brush at an angle and scoop up about a bean-sized amount of dye.

If you apply the color directly to the material, you will not get the light and dark shading that gives Kyo-Yuzen its character. First, spread the dye you picked up with the brush on a paper towel until it looks almost dry, allowing the dye to soak into the brush. The key is to hold the brush upright and scrub firmly. Be sure to remove even the dye on the edges of the brush. If you look at the brush and wonder whether there is really any dye on it, you have removed enough.

Hold the brush upright and dye in small circular motions. Rubbing the color in repeatedly makes it darker. Adding this kind of shading, or bokashi, creates a sense of depth. You can combine colors however you like, so dye freely and create your own original Kyo-Yuzen piece!

This time, we decided to dye the maiko’s obi in three colors. After dyeing the upper part of the obi with yellow dye, we picked up red dye, spread it again until it looked almost dry, and dyed while slightly overlapping the area colored yellow.

Here, too, hold the brush upright and move it in small circles. We dyed the lower part of the obi purple. Here is the finished obi. The areas where yellow and red, and red and purple, overlap have formed beautiful gradations. Continue layering the second and later stencils in the same way.

After finishing the first stencil, dye the second stencil. Use the masking tape applied during the first stencil as a guide, place the second stencil, and secure it with pins. Then pick up the dye again, spread it until it looks almost dry, and dye in small circular motions. Repeat this through the final stencil to complete one design.

Here is the finished piece. It clearly looks like a maiko, and the color shading came out beautifully. Through the experience, we found two points especially important: spreading the dye well until it looks almost dry and dyeing while keeping the stencil from shifting. If you follow those two points carefully, you should be able to create beautiful Kyo-Yuzen.

Use other stencils to fill the handkerchief with designs.
Using stencils, we dyed a five-story pagoda, a large torii gate, cherry blossoms, and clouds, creating a handkerchief full of Kyoto charm! You can freely use stencils and dye for the entire allotted time, making a piece you are happy with. You can take your finished work home the same day. After you get home, be sure to iron the dyed areas thoroughly at a temperature suitable for the fabric before using it. If time allows, you can also pay an additional fee to try stencil Yuzen on another material! Goods decorated with stencil Yuzen that you made yourself would also make great souvenirs for family and friends.

There is also a course where you can experience both Kyo-Yuzen and chopstick making using cedar from Kyoto. You can not only try Yuzen dyeing, but also make chopsticks, which Japanese people use every day at meals. The wood used for the chopsticks is Kitayama cedar from Kyoto.

Kitayama cedar has been prized since the Muromachi period for tea rooms and sukiya-style architecture as polished logs with beautiful bark and grain. In Kyoto Prefecture’s Kitayama area, a unique forestry method has been passed down, producing wood with few knots and fine growth rings, which gives it strong hardness. Because the chopsticks are made from uncoated plain wood, the contrast between the white and brown grain is also striking, resulting in simple yet characterful chopsticks. Making chopsticks is a process of steadily shaving wood with a plane. Because it involves repeating simple motions, it is very popular with international visitors as an activity that lets them forget everyday distractions and focus. Another reason for its popularity is that making the chopsticks yourself gives them personal meaning, and you can use them as “my chopsticks” when eating Japanese food during your trip.

Now, let’s get started!

Use a plane to shave the chopsticks to a thickness and shape that feel comfortable to hold. The long, narrow wooden sticks have four corners, so start by shaving those down. This takes more strength than you might expect. We gradually shaved off the corners until they reached the thickness we liked and felt comfortable in the hand. Be careful, because shaving too much can cause them to break.

Add carved details with a small knife to the part of the chopsticks you hold. With advice from the artisan, create your favorite design.

Smooth the surface with two types of sandpaper. At this step, do not forget to round the tips of the chopsticks.

After removing the powder from the surface, wipe the chopsticks with olive oil to give them a sheen, and they are complete.

After making your chopsticks, make a chopstick case with Yuzen. Try making your own chopsticks and chopstick case with your favorite Yuzen design!

This experience facility also has a Kyo-Yuzen workshop on site. If you are lucky, you may be able to watch artisans dyeing Yuzen through the glass.

On the day of our visit, we happened to see an artisan dyeing an obiage sash. Of course, every piece is made by hand. The distinctive light and dark tones of Kyo-Yuzen are expressed with a single brush. Seeing the skilled craftsmanship that has supported Japan’s kimono culture up close is a very special experience!