Kasuri

It is a form of ikat dyeing, traditionally resulting in patterns characterized by their blurred or brushed appearance.

When woven together, the undyed areas interlace to form patterns, with many variations – including highly pictographic and multi-colored results – possible to achieve.

The confusion stems from the fact that meisen fabrics are very commonly, though not always, dyed using the kasuri technique.

After the invasion of the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1609, kasuri techniques entered southern Japan and had moved northwards to the Nara area of Honshu by 1750.

[6] Increases in production continued until the 1930s, when the national government outsourced it to the new colonies, shipping pre-dyed threads abroad, where labour was cheaper.

A display table showing a number of different indigo-dyed kasuri fabrics, some stacked on wooden stands in roll-form, others displayed flat in front of the rolls, and some hanging on small stands.
Iyo-kasuri fabric, along with kurume- and bingo-kasuri , the three main varieties of kasuri in Japan
Simple kon gasuri patterns, 19th century
A piece of kasuri with a woven design of plovers and stylised waves on a dark indigo blue-green background. The waves are woven in both white and brown, and the plovers are woven in a mixture of white, brown and pink.
Kasuri fragment from an early-20th century kimono using the e-gasuri ( lit. ' picture kasuri ' ) technique to create a picture of plovers. This is also an example of iro gasuri ( lit. ' colour kasuri ' ), in that it uses several colors.
Complex kasuri pattern, tate-yoko gasuri , first half of 20th century