Old silk kimono are often stencilled and hand painted, and although the majority of modern ones are now printed, you can still find some exquisite hand painted kimono in classy shops in Kyoto. Yuzen dyeing is the equivalent of our western gutta technique. The Japanese use a rice paste called nori. Traditionally, this is applied through a squeeze cone called a tsu-tsu, made from paper treated with persimmon tannin. It is soaked until it is soft, then filled with nori paste. The resist lines extruded from the nozzle are extraordinarily fine, yet seem to contain the dyes perfectly! Nori paste may also be stencilled onto the cloth using a tool like a small squeegee. The stencils are very finely cut and punched and allow for repeat patterns to be made. Areas of the design are then painted using the delicate shading technique called bokashi. Before new colours can be added, the rice paste is removed by soaking. Traditionally this was done in one of the two rivers that run through Kyoto. Entire sections of the design are then masked with the rice paste before the background is dyed. Very highly skilled and time-consuming work!

When artificial dyes were introduced to Japan in the 1860's, Yuzen flowered into a vibrant and highly sophisticated art form. Many traditional motifs are depicted in design work such as the crane ( symbolizing fidelity in marriage, good fortune and longevity), the peony (symbolizing nobility) and the iris (for purification and believed to ward off both plague and demons). *Figured silk is woven with a design.

A number of contemporary textile artists use wax resist or rozome. I was lucky enough to see an exhibition of Kimono using rozome techniques at the Fureikan Museum in Kyoto. The skill of Japanese silk painters is absolutely amazing. Their pursuit of perfection combined with total command of technique creates work of the highest quality.

I would have been very interested to discover more about art school training in Japan. I know it is very rigorous and disciplined and certainly produces artists with exceptional insight and skill. I think art schools in the U.K. would benefit greatly from studying the Japanese approach to teaching art, where mastery of technique is an essential factor in the production of a work of art.

Contemporary Japanese textile art is highly innovative and refined. There is an extraordinary attention to detail and a willingness on the part of the artist to devote huge amounts of time in making a piece of work. A piece of work simply takes as long as it takes. For myself, trained as a designer in the West, time-scale is always an essential consideration in a design brief. Time is money we are taught. I can't help feeling quality is often sacrificed!