Harvesting seasonal colors from nature for more than two centuries
Textile dyer Yoshioka (Somenotsukasa Yoshioka in Japanese) has been operating in Kyoto — an ancient capital city of Japan — for five generations, since the late Edo Period in the 1800’s.
We dye silk, hemp, cotton and other natural textiles with natural dyes harvested from flower petals, stalks, leaves, roots, tree bark, nuts, etc. No synthetic dyes are used.
We work closely with nature, following the seasonal changes and tending the health of plants and soil. The whole process is done by hands with pure water drawn from 100 meters below the ground. We work slowly and gently, giving all the time nature requires. Only then, the glorious colors emerge.
Colors harvested from plants yield much depth, bringing feelings of ‘warmth’ and ‘vital life’.
Sachio Yoshioka
Fifth-generation Master Dyer and Color Historian