A mediator of little things around us.
"Because it's there."
This quote was uttered by the British mountaineer George Malory when asked in 1923 why he did want to climb Mount Everest, a monstrous mountain that had never been climbed before (although the origin of the phrase is unknown).
The reason why I'm saying this is because the first exchange I had with Haruka Takei, a dyeing/weaving artist, was reminiscent of the phrase.
In response to my question, "Why did you start persimmon tannin dyeing?", Takei answered shortly in a calm tone without hesitation.
"Because it's there."
Sure,because there are ton’s of persimmon at her family farm.
©︎Haruka Takei
After studying textile science at university, Takei began her career in Yuzen dyeing in Kyoto, which has been going on for four centuries, and worked at a Yonezawa weaving factory in Yamagata, which boasts a history of over 200 years. It was after she returned to her hometown, Yamanashi, where she was born and raised.
Her family has been a dried persimmon farmer for three generations. Every year, they harvest five tons of persimmons and produce dried persimmons as well.
"To be honest, I didn't have a big reason to love persimmon tannin dyeing or want to pass it down to future generations. What I wanted to focus on was to work on a single piece of work all by myself. Also, I wanted to create things with the most of what I had around me".
Place the eggplant on the freshly squeezed astringent persimmon juice and cover it. It will prevent the juice from coagulating. After about two years of aging, the raw material for persimmon tannin can be produced. ©︎Haruka Takei
Persimmon is orange, but the stain on my clothes is brown.
Persimmon tannin is made by naturally fermenting the juice of unripe, green persimmons picked in the summer. It was originally used to reinforce paper, cloth, thread, leather, and wood, as well as to protect them from corrosion and waterproofing. However, as with other natural dyes, demand for persimmon tannin has been declining due to the rise of synthetic fibers, there are now only a few persimmon tannin-producing areas in Japan.
The Shioyama area in Yamanashi, where Takei's family lives, became a production center for dried persimmons after WWⅡ as a result of a town-wide policy to have found flourish their own culture and economy. Still, Takei is the only person who has dyed persimmons from astringent persimmons.
©︎Takei Haruka
"For me, persimmon tannin is a natural part of my life. Since I was a child, while helping to make dried persimmons, I knew that persimmon juice turns brown when it gets on clothes. Persimmons are a fruit, but they are also a dye.
Even though there is no dyeing culture in this area, these simple memories have matured and become a part of my crucial culture”
Despite the background, surprisingly, she admitted, it has taken her more than 15 years since she started working as an individual to be able to take pride in her works.
The sense of self gained by letting go
While the techniques and customs that she had learned in one of the oldest traditional dyeing and weaving schools/industries were engraved in the foundation of her own life, she was not bound by them and continued to make what she wanted to make from scratch, steadily and unobtrusively, which she believed though......
"While I was making what I wanted to make, there was an unconscious pressure to "make it right and sell it right. But my style may have changed after I was freed from such pressure.
Then, I came to believe in my own hands rather than the public's reaction. After letting go of the “I should be this way" to be myself, my " identity" became more solid”
It's not something that can be expressed simply in words,she says.
“It's better if the viewer can freely perceive it. The usage of those works is also free and ambiguous. The more I am able to move my hands in my own way, the more such works I have been creating”
For example, the gauze envelopes that are introduced at the exhibit.
"It all come along when I started making envelopes for myself out of linen called "cold gauze," which is originally used to protect against frost in agriculture. The light and translucent material were further developed into an ornament."
This is a combination of a farmer's unique point of view on materials and a dyer's ability.
"I am very happy when I can catch a glimpse of the moment when a customer looks at this work and has a small flutter of excitement, wondering how to display it or what to put in it. I make them with the hope of adding a little joy to the often mundane aspects of daily life”
Indigo Dyeing and French Women
One of the things that helped Ms. Takei release her "I must/should" was an encounter she had while studying abroad for a short time in Stockholm.
The school attracts students from all over the world and there was a French woman in her class. She kept telling Takei day in and day out how much she wanted to learn indigo dyeing in Japan. Why she wanted to do indigo dyeing,and why it sould be in Japan. She even asked Takei if she could help her find a school.
”It was pure energy," Takei recalls. And she would later become an important person for Takei.
©︎Haruka Takei
"I felt intimidated by the world of indigo dyeing so that I should not so easily step into the world of long history and tradition. But that didn't matter at all to the French woman. She just wants to do it and asks me something every day. I was really overwhelmed by her power".
Encouraged by her enthusiasm, Takei returned to Japan, searched for a school where foreigners could experience indigo dyeing, and sent her an e-mail. At the same time, she was inspired to genuinely try what she wanted to do and learn indigo dyeing herself. "Then, to my surprise, I found the indigo dyeing class for the French woman, and somehow, I joined it"
"I haven't heard anything from her since then. But now I am doing indigo dyeing because of her power behind me. I feel that I am still able to face indigo dyeing with her purity”
A few years ago, indigo plants were added to Takei's garden.
The gradation created by Takei's weaving has become even more multi-layered and diverse because not only there is persimmon there but also indigo is there.
"In this day and age, especially in Japan, when many people can freely choose from a variety of options, I think it is actually quite difficult to find something that you are truly satisfied with. In that sense, I believe I am the lucky one.
I don't have to go far to find materials or anything, but if I look around my own life, I will find what I need and what feels right. So my role, I think, is that of a mediator, combining the dots that sorrond us always but we tend to unnotice."
