About 300 miles off the southern coast of Japan, you’ll find the subtropical island of Amami. It is home to two noteworthy exports that hold a special place in my heart - black sugar shochu & the tradition of mud dyeing, or dorozome in Japanese.  

Amami is the only place in Japan and one of the few places in the world where you can still find the unbroken tradition of mud dyeing. Until relatively recently, dorozome was used mainly for silk yarn dyeing, that would then be handwoven into fabric for kimono making - a cloth known as Oshima Tsumugi. In the past two decades or so, the dorozome tradition has shifted to garment dyeing, as the handwoven silk industry has decreased significantly.

Dorozome relies entirely on the interaction between iron and tannins. The achievement of rich dark browns and even near black is unique in the realm of natural dyeing, made even more special by its marked colorfastness in the face of UV exposure and regular washing.

It is from the woodchips of the Sharinbai tree that the incredibly vibrant orange liquid emerges after days of boiling, which in turn makes up the first stage of the dyeing process.  Depending on the density of the cloth, a garment can require 12 cycles of hand dyeing to achieve the bright orange tannic coloring evenly throughout the fabric. After the right saturation is achieved, the garments are ready to enter the dilutions of naturally iron rich soil, also native to this volcanic island, which causes a reaction in the tannins to shift from orange to darker browns. 

It is likely not a secret that I have a penchant for shades of brown, as well as a deep respect and admiration for natural dyeing, so the combination makes it rather clear just how much this tradition resonates.

More on the place & the process in the short film by Allen Danze below -