We have worked with Yukihito Kanai and his mud works; Kanai Kougei in Amami Ōshima for the past three years. Our most recent output were mud–dyed shirts using varying amounts of tannin and iron to produce gentle fades and motifs.

The itajime method involves the careful folding of our shirts, which are then clamped tightly with wooden blocks. Using the bark of locally sourced Sharinbai trees, a tannin–rich stock imparts a red colour on the cloth. Once outside, this pigment reacts to the island’s iron–rich mud baths in a process referred to as dorozome. Through twenty cycles of wood and mud, inside and outside, a dark brown is achieved. Once open, the shirt is again dyed a further five times as a whole. 

Kanai san imparts generations of knowledge and his enduring patience on these shirts.