Kimono is a traditional Japanese original costume. You wear “nagagi” just like a bathrobe and tie with a long band (Obi) about 30 cm of width. In the old days everybody wore Kimono for daily life. Nowadays most of Japanese wear Kimono only for special ceremonies. Many of Kimono are made from “染物Somemono”- dyeing cloth. There are many activities to participate for tourists. You can learn about dyeing techniques and do it yourself.
Do you want to know more about experiences you can do only in Japan?
Check “Three experiences you can do with wearing kimono-Japanese tradition kimono“.
Dyeing experience
Source: 湯布院窯 蛍工房ブログ
Source: FUTABA INC.
In general “Somemono- dyeing” for kimono is what is done after weaving yarn into fabrics. There are many techniques to dye fabrics for kimono. For example “Tataki zome” Beat wax with a brush so that you can get a fine grain pattern on the kimono. Others are “Aizome” dyeing with making use of the plant ai ( Japanese indigo ). It will be colored in dark blue.
“Yuzen-zome” Draw a picture with dyes. The impression and colors will be different depending on the technique used.
Developing the dyeing techniques depends on the region, its culture and climate in Japan.
It’s necessary to dye for Kimono.
Beautiful dyeing by professional techniques
We’ll recommend you to reservation for dyeing experience.
It is difficult to dye Kimono. But you can dye Tenugui (Japanese hand towel) or T-shirt with Japanese traditional dyeing technique. It’s will be a nice souvenir.
＜TOKYO＆YOKOHAMA＞Tenugui Craft Experience 《Making Your Own Chusen Tenugui-Japanese cotton hand towel》
Dyeing “Tenugui” (cotton Japanese traditional hand towel).
The dyeing experience takes 150 minutes. Explanation is in English.
You’ll get your original tenugui!
The price is 10,000 yen.
＜KAMAKURA＞Seasonal Natural Textile Dyeing at a local painter’s garden
At the painter’s atelier in Kamakura-city, Kanagawa, you can “plants tree dyeing” using plants of the season. It takes three hours. First you consider the original design, pick the plants to dye from the garden and start dyeing. A simple tea ceremony experience is also included. The price is 8,400 yen.
＜KYOTO＞Learn Japanese Dyeing Techniques
You can dye using traditional technique “ろうけつ染め (Rōketsuzome) batik” in Kyoto. It is a traditional wax-resist textile dyeing technique in Japan, A method of embossing white patterns. It takes about 100 minutes. The price depends on de products which you dye. It costs about 3,000 yen.
What’s a kimono?
Want to know more about kimono? Check 【What’s a kimono?‐Traditional Japanese culture ”Kimono”】!