Chiyogami, Japanese silk-screen decorated paper, is the 20th-century evolution of kimono fabrics. While you can find earlier samples (at the Schmoller Collection in Manchester, for example), its production en masse began after World War II, when the cost of producing Japanese kimonos and the modernisation of dress eroded domestic demand and craftsmen looked to evolve their craft to another medium: paper. These papers were used to fashion small objects and souvenirs, which were sold at temples and shrines, often depicting popular imagery taken from nature and Japanese folklore, none more popular than sakura, or cherry blossoms!
Today chiyogami production is in the hands of very few studios scattered in and around Kyoto. Artisans are often elderly and difficult to replace as training a skilled craftsperson can take ten years ‘if you’re good’. Last year, after the sudden and tragic death of Mr Kawakatsu and the closure of his studio, which since the ’50s had continued the tradition of katazome papers (a kind of dye-resist batik style decorated paper), the obvious fragility of this industry became even more salient. As not a high-brow art but a discreet motif that colours everyday Japanese life, this tradition is often unnoticed and underappreciated as folklorish art often is. We all should look after it more carefully to ensure its continuance.
Indeed, in the last 18 months we have redoubled our interest and commitment to ‘chiyo’, as we have affectionately nicknamed it. Following multiple visits to Kyoto, we have in the shop many older-style patterns in vintage colours and motifs – meaning CK now has one of the most versatile, original, researched, and historical collections and assortments of papers, not easily found in or outside of Japan. If you want to support this craft, we encourage you to purchase any of the items we have fashioned using chiyogami or to purchase a sheet to make your own object.
We’d like to also share with you some of the pictures taken on these trips showing both styles of paper dyeing techniques. In one of these techniques, papers are lined up in a row for a blast of colour, with the craftsman moving from paper to paper to layer colours and patterns. The other, performed standing up – better for the craftsman’s back – is slower but no less effective.
