Tachibana has produced kimono-related products using a traditional Japanese dyeing technique known as surigata-yuzen ever since the company was established.
Although Japan has become a globally prominent country, the kimono has not earned the same popularity. We created our original bow-ties because we would like people all over the world to use kimono goods in their everyday lives.
Stencils are essential items for surigata-yuzen dyeing. Dedicated professionals hand-carve patterns to create the stencils, which were at one time made simply of layered paper but are now mixed with resin to give them strength.
Hoshi-awase, the positioning of the stencils, is one of the most important parts of the dyeing process. All of the stencils in a given pattern have small holes called hoshi. By aligning the hoshi of each stencil at the exact same place, dozens of stencils can be positioned on the fabric with great accuracy.
Senshoku is the process of dyeing a pattern on fabric using brushes with colors. Various-sized brushes are used according to the size of a pattern.
It requires great experience and patience to evenly apply colors on fabric 13 meters in length.
Once part of the fabric is dyed, a stencil is moved to the next place on the fabric. Stencils are accurately aligned using the hoshi holes.
Pattern dyeing is followed by a process called noribuse, in which the whole pattern is covered with rice glue before dyeing with ground colors. The ground color dyeing process is called hikizome.
