By chance, I came across the Victoria and Albert Museum London's video production on the Japanese master cloth dyer Sachio Yoshioka on Youtube and was immediately fascinated.
After Sachio Yoshioka took over the family business, which was working with synthetic dyes at the time, he switched completely to dyeing with natural plants as he found the variety of colours
they produced so delightful and fascinating. This must be considered a risky economic decision as working with natural dyes is labour-intensive. By studying old texts and cooperating with local
farmers, Sachio Yoshioka was able to bring old, forgotten dyeing techniques back to life and cultivate and thus preserve endangered rare dye plants.
Colourful clothing was of great importance in imperial Japan, similar to the class systems and aristocratic colour schemes in Europe. Colour was a status symbol, a social indication of rank,
self-expression, as well as a celebration of aesthetics and craftsmanship. Japanese society developed special extraction techniques for a huge range of colours from their local plants. However,
these were almost forgotten after the introduction of synthetic dyes based on fossil raw materials. Synthetic dyes can be produced industrially and are often very colourfast and lightfast and
produce bold colours with much less dyestuff, but are also often harmful to humans and animals.
For a particularly deep purple - the 'murasaki' purple - Sachio Yoshioka uses the now endangered plant Lithospermum erythrorhizon. Its roots contain the formerly sought-after dye (and are also
used as a medicinal plant in Chinese medicine as it has antiviral properties). This is extracted in a labourious process and then produces magnificent purple-coloured fabric panels when they rise
from the dye baths.
This is a fascinating example of how the intrinsic passion, high personal commitment, sheer will and resilience of one person (together with the artisan employees of course) preserves a real
treasure trove of social and cultural heritage. Cultural history owes a great deal to such extraordinary personalities who become guardians to ancient crafts; who do not take the easy way out but
commit themselves to a tougher but very rewarding path of preserving plants and techniques.
