Based in the ancient Japanese capital of Kyoto, the craftspeople of the 200-year-old family-run Yoshioka Dyeing Workshop dye cloth and Japanese paper (washi) using age-old natural dyeing techniques and plant-based materials.

In this special demonstration at Japan House, 6th-generation dyeing weaver YOSHIOKA Sarasa presents the art of dyeing washi using yellow kihada dye.

Extracted from the bark of the Amur Cork tree, kihada has been prized in Japan since ancient times as a precious yellow colouring, often used for dyeing the paper used for copying Buddhist sutras.

Exploring the work of the Yoshioka Dyeing Workshop, the exhibition ‘Living Colours: Kasane – the Language of Japanese Colour Combinations’ is on display in the Gallery at Japan House from 5 April until 19 May 2019.

About YOSHIOKA Sarasa:
After working at an apparel design company, Yoshioka Sarasa joined the Silk Museum in Seiyoshi-mura, Ehime Prefecture, to study silk production, including silk reeling, throwing, dyeing, and weaving. In 2008 she returned home to Yoshioka Dyeing Workshop, where she has since been working on textiles dyeing and weaving, using natural dyeing techniques. Yoshioka Sarasa is the daughter of Yoshioka Sachio, the 5th-generation head of the Yoshioka Dyeing Workshop.

Booking Essential; Admission Free

*Please note that there are only limited places, so booking will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

Based in the ancient Japanese capital of Kyoto, the craftspeople of the 200-year-old family-run Yoshioka Dyeing Workshop dye cloth and Japanese paper (washi) using age-old natural dyeing techniques and plant-based materials.