What Is Shibori?

How is shibori made?

Shibori is made by compressing parts of a cloth before it is dyed, so those parts resist the dye and the pattern appears when the binding is undone. The Metropolitan Museum of Art lists folding, stitching, binding, sheathing and knotting as the methods. Because kimono cloth is rarely cut, the design is planned on the fabric in advance.

In Arimatsu-Narumi, in Aichi Prefecture, the cloth is silk or cotton, bound with cotton, silk or hemp thread. The work follows a set order:

1. Marking. The pattern is stencilled onto the cloth in a blue that washes out with water; the Aichi prefectural government names dayflower extract.
2. Binding. The marked areas are tied, stitched or folded.
3. Dyeing. The bound cloth is immersed in the dye, and the tied areas resist the colour.
4. Finishing. The thread is removed, and the cloth is steamed and ironed.

Aichi gives an average of 50 to 60 days for the whole process, shared among several craftspeople. Japan's national traditional-crafts association dates this division of labour, with stencil carving, underdrawing, tying and dyeing done by different artisans, to around the late 18th to early 19th century.

Main shibori methods

The association says Arimatsu-Narumi has developed over 100 tying methods; Aichi puts the variations at as many as 100. Six of the named methods:

Where does shibori come from?

Shibori has been made in Japan for well over a thousand years, but its start is undocumented and sources date it differently. The Kyoto National Museum says tie-dyed, clamp-resist and wax-resist textiles were prized in the Asuka (592–710) and Nara (710–794) periods, some imported from the continent and some made in Japan after overseas models. The Japanese American National Museum says shibori most likely came to Japan from China at least 1,300 years ago. The national crafts association places the origin of tie-dyeing in the Nara period.

The Arimatsu-Narumi tradition is younger; both main accounts tie it to the building of Nagoya Castle in the early Edo period. The crafts association says the techniques reportedly arrived with craftspeople from Bungo (present-day Ōita Prefecture), brought by a lord ordered to help build the castle. Aichi’s account names Takeda Shokuro, who in the Keichō era (1596–1615) used techniques passed down from the castle workers to make washcloths (mame-shibori) sold as kukuri-shibori. Arimatsu grew along the old Tōkaidō road, next to the post town of Narumi.

Fine kanoko was also a mark of wealth. Describing a kimono-type robe (kosode) from the second half of the 18th century, the Met says robes covered entirely in kanoko were “the ultimate luxury”, and that full kanoko garments were essential to the trousseaux of the eldest daughters of wealthy Kyoto merchants.

What numbers describe shibori work?

Shibori has no formal grading scale, but the sources give measurable markers:

• Wraps per binding: once for miura; two to seven times for kanoko.
• Knot density: a hand-knotted shibori furisode made in 1995, now at the Met, uses as many as 3,600 knots per square shaku (about one square foot), each tied by hand eleven times.
• Dye passes: the crafts association says each bolt of Arimatsu-Narumi cloth is immersed in the dye more than 20 times.
• Time: 50 to 60 days on average in Arimatsu, according to Aichi; the Met records as much as two years of labour for each masterpiece in one maker’s revival of an almost-lost knotting technique.

How does shibori appear on a clothing label?

Shibori is a dyeing technique, not a fibre, so it is not part of the fibre-content line, which reads silk, cotton or another fibre. Check the description for how the pattern was made: tied, stitched, clamped or printed.

The nearest thing to a protected marker is Japan’s national designation. Arimatsu-Narumi Shibori has been a designated Traditional Craft Product since 4 September 1975. Under the Traditional Industries Law, in force since 1974, three of the six requirements are a mainly handmade process, techniques in use, as a general rule, for at least 100 years, and mainly traditional raw materials. Aichi’s listed products include furisode (long-sleeved kimono), hōmongi (semi-formal kimono), silk fabrics, cotton yukata, yard goods and interior pieces.

How do you tell hand-bound shibori from a printed copy?

Hand-bound shibori is resist-dyed, so its pattern is the pale gap left by a binding; a motif printed on the surface, by screen printing or any other method, is a print however close it looks. Four checks:

• Turn it over. The cloth is immersed in the dye, so the pattern normally shows on the back too. A pattern that shows only on the face is more likely to be printed.
• Count the dots. Each kanoko dot is one pinch of cloth tied by hand. Count a small square: one revived technique in the Met’s collection reaches as many as 3,600 knots per square shaku. Dense dots on a cheap piece are a reason to ask questions.
• Look at the shading. The crafts association credits indigo shibori’s texture to variations in shade created by tying and dyeing.
• Ask where and by whom. A maker should be able to name the method (kanoko, itajime, arashi) and the place.

Is shibori sustainable?

Shibori is neither sustainable nor unsustainable in itself: it names how the resist is made, so the impact depends on the cloth, the dyes and how dye water is handled. The word says nothing about whether a dye is natural, so ask the maker to back any “natural indigo” claim. For the wider picture, see sustainable fashion.

Shibori vs tie-dye, bandhani, batik and ikat

All five are resist techniques; they differ in what blocks the dye.