Changes

==Creation and Style==

==Creation and Style==

The process is done by using [[persimmon]] juice as a resist, blocking out areas one does not wish to dye. Dye is then applied through stencils, by hand, one section at a time, to produce the designs.<ref>Gallery labels, [[Tokyo National Museum]].</ref> The stencils are made from soft, thick ''[[hosho|hôsho]]'' paper which has been strengthened with persimmon juice. More than 2,000 such stencils survive from prior to World War II, and each is inscribed with the year, the names of the studio (紺屋, ''kôya'') and client, and other information. The stencils were cut out on a dried tofu base known as a ''rukuju'' using a small chisel known as a ''shiigu''. The cutting and production otherwise of the stencils, dyeing the fabric, and other aspects of bingata production were all performed within the same studio.<ref>Gallery labels, "Churashima Textiles" exhibition, Shoto Museum, Tokyo, Sept 2019.</ref>

The process is done by using [[persimmon]] juice as a resist, blocking out areas one does not wish to dye. Dye is then applied through stencils, by hand, one section at a time, to produce the designs.<ref>Gallery labels, [[Tokyo National Museum]].</ref> The stencils are made from soft, thick ''[[hosho|hôsho]]'' paper which has been strengthened with persimmon juice. More than 2,000 such stencils survive from prior to World War II, and each is inscribed with the year, the names of the studio (紺屋, ''kôya'') and client, and other information. Each ''kôya'' maintained its own collection of stencils, and passed them down through the generations. The oldest surviving stencils today date to [[1796]].<ref name=chen92/> The stencils were cut out on a dried tofu base known as a ''rukuju'' using a small chisel known as a ''shiigu''. Some are negative designs (O: ''shiruzigata'') in which the background was cut away, leaving the pattern, while others are positive designs (O: ''somezigata'') in which the pattern is cut away, leaving the background.<ref name=chen93>Chen, 93.</ref> The cutting and production otherwise of the stencils, dyeing the fabric, and other aspects of bingata production were all performed within the same studio.<ref>Gallery labels, "Churashima Textiles" exhibition, Shoto Museum, Tokyo, Sept 2019.</ref>

 

Fabric to be dyed is laid out on a long narrow board. The stencils are placed atop it, and then a spatula is used to spread a resist paste (J: ''nori'' 糊) made of glutinous rice, rice bran, salt, water, and lime over the fabric, through the stencil. This is then repeated, typically with the same stencil being placed again and again repeating across the length of the cloth. ''Gojiru'' liquid made from ground soybeans is then applied as a sizing, allowing the cloth to accept the pigment in a more advantageous way. Finally, the dyer applies mineral pigments mixed with ''gojiru'' directly to the cloth in the desired locations with a short stubby brush. Pigments are sometimes applied in multiple layers, to produce more intense colors, shading, or outlines. A solution of alum is then used to fix the colors, before the resist-paste is washed off, leaving an undyed background ready to be dyed. Resist paste is then applied carefully over the birds, flowers, and other colored designs, leaving just the background exposed; the background colors are then applied with a brush. Alum is applied again to fix the colors, and the resist is finally washed off again.<ref name=chen93/>

It is believed that ''bingata'' technique and styles first emerged due in large part to the influence of Japanese dyed fabrics which were brought into the Ryukyuan royal court as gifts from the [[Tokugawa shogunate]]. By the 19th century, if not earlier, ''bingata'' garments began to show the influence, too, of the latest Japanese commoner fashions; for example, motifs of flowered roundels appear both in Okinawa and in Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo around the same time.<ref>''Bingata! Only in Okinawa'', 73.</ref>

It is believed that ''bingata'' technique and styles first emerged due in large part to the influence of Japanese dyed fabrics which were brought into the Ryukyuan royal court as gifts from the [[Tokugawa shogunate]]. By the 19th century, if not earlier, ''bingata'' garments began to show the influence, too, of the latest Japanese commoner fashions; for example, motifs of flowered roundels appear both in Okinawa and in Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo around the same time.<ref>''Bingata! Only in Okinawa'', 73.</ref>