Japanese Textile Dyes - plant source guide

[Lady Kimiko]

I recently purchased a gem of a book that is a historical look at Japanese textile techniques..specifically dying and weaving. The book discusses the Nara period up to the Meiji era. It includes a lot of elaborate period kimono and examples.

In particular I found the Momoyama period kosode photos to be particularly interesting. Many of the kosode features were performers pieces.

In the back of the book is a reference list for dying: plants, their names, and a color sample plate of what they yielded. this is such a great resource that I wanted to share it with everyone. There link is the color sample plate to better help you understand what each different plant yields as a dye.
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Source: Textiles No. 2 Arts and Crafts of Japan
Published:1957
By: Tomoyuki Yamanobb
Link to color sample plate: img856.imageshack.us/img856/3162/img1557y.jpg
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* Color No.1 : Madder - Perennial vine with line, egg-shaped, thorny leaves.
Roots of the 3 year old plant used for dye.
* Color No.2 : Safflower (Chrysanthemum family) - Prennial. The flowers are
reddish-yellow. Plant looks like wild thistle and grows to a height of one
meter. Flowers used for dye.
* Color No.3 : Judas Tree - The bark of this deciduous plant is used as a
medicine as well as for making dye. Its yellow flowers are used in making a red
paint used by artists.
* Color No.4 : Shikon- A perennial plant with five petal flowers. The dark
purple skin of its thick roots is used for dye.
* Color No.5 : Ai (Indigo plant) - Annual. Brought to Japan from the French
Indo-China in ancient times. Leaves used for dye.
* Color No.6 : Turmeric- Perennial member of the ginger family. Its tuber roots
are dried and then used for dye.
* Color No.7 : Kihada- A deciduous tree. Its bark is used for medicine and dye.
* Color No.8 : Rhubarb - Perennial. The Japanese variety has a whitish yellow
flower. Roots are used for dye.
* Color No.9 : Gardenia - Evergreen. The ripe yellow seeds are used for making
dye.
* Color No.10 : Kariyasu - A perennial plant that resembles pampas grass.
Leaves and stem used for dye.
* Color No.11 : Mochi Tsutsuji (a variety of azalea)- The leaves of this
evergreen bush are used for dye.
* Color No.12 : Yashabushi (member of the birch family)- The seeds of this
deciduous tree are used for dye.
* Color No.13 : Alder- Deciduous tree. The bark of this is used for dye.
* Color No.14 : Sumac- Deciduous. Was used in ancient times for making wax.
Dye is made from the bark.
* Color No.15 : Pomegranate- The fruit of this deciduous tree are used for dye.
* Color No.16 : Tsurubami (a kind of oak)- Deciduous. The outer shell of the
acorn is used for dye.
* Color No.17 : Clove- Evergreen. The oil extract from the heavy scented
blossoms is used for medicine. The buds are used for dye.
* Color No.18 : Natsume (member of the holly family)- The fruit of this
deciduous tree is used for dye and medicine.
* Color No.19 : Walnut Tree- Deciduous. The bark is used for dye.
* Color No.20 : Beninoki- Deciduous. The bark is used for dye.
* Color No.21 : Yamamomo- An evergreen that bares edible fruit. The bark is
used for dye.
* Color No.22 : Common commelina- Annual creeper. Liquid extract from flowers
used as tracing dye in Yuzen dying.

-Lady Kimiko

[Oribe Tsukime]

Thank you so much! I'm always on the lookout for more dye books. There's also an excellent section at the end of Shibori: The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing which gives methods for the most common immersion dyes, including murasaki, while Japanese Stencil Dyeing: Paste Resist Techniques also gives instructions for painting with dyes and making soy milk sizing. Kosode: 16th to 19th Century Textiles From the Nomura Collection has the best summary I've found for which dye dates back to which period, and Cardon's Natural Dyes is just incredible, though also super expensive!