Yamamura Orimono

Yamamura san's indigo weaving has to be seen to be believed and people are always surprised that it is a woven pattern and not a print. The depth of colour and crispness of the pattern is testament to his skill as a dyer and as a weaver. Apart from knotting the yarns for dying, Yamamura san does every other part of the process: designing the pattern, working out which yarns go where, making the indigo dye, dying the yarns, etc. It really is a mountain of work for one man, even with support from his wife and son, but the result is some of the best Japanese textiles has to offer.

He is the last weaver to use 100% natural indigo. He fixes the indigo by beating the yarn against the floor which forces the indigo into the yarn and for the deep blue indigo, he will repeat this dyeing process for about 10 cycles. Don't underestimate how physical this technique is as well as being a mental challenge.