Kaga Yuzen : Frame line color

The Main Line of Kaga Yuzen is "White.

Hello everyone.
In the last issue, I introduced the five traditional colors of Kaga Yuzen, one of the Japanese kimono.
This time, I would like to talk about the colors of Kaga Yuzen again.

Kaga Yuzen is often based on the motif of Ishikawa's nature and has a realistic and calm atmosphere.
Kaga Yuzen has a different charm from the glittering Kyo Yuzen, which makes full use of gold leaf and embroidery,
Kaga yuzen is different from Kyo yuzen, is made almost exclusively with dyeing techniques.
(More on Kaga Yuzen's unique techniques another time!)

I think that one of the characteristics of Kaga Yuzen is the "white frame line".
Usually, when you draw a picture, you choose black or other nealy colors, don't you?
But in Kaga Yuzen, the lines are white.

This is closely related to the dyeing method of Kaga Yuzen.
In hand-dyed Kaga-Yuzen, after the preliminary sketch is drawn thinly, the lines are glued to prevent other colors from entering.
This is so-called masking.
Then the surrounding area is dyed, and finally the glue on the main lines is washed off with water.
(This process was done in the river in ancient times.)
The main line is masked and white.

Next time you see a kimono in town or on TV, please pay attention to the color of the main line!