{"id":1038,"date":"2025-02-28T16:41:02","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T21:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/living.okinawa.halekulani.com\/?p=1038"},"modified":"2025-03-04T10:33:36","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T15:33:36","slug":"%e9%9d%92%e3%81%ae%e4%b8%ad%e3%81%b8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/living.okinawa.halekulani.com\/en\/%e9%9d%92%e3%81%ae%e4%b8%ad%e3%81%b8\/","title":{"rendered":"Into the Blue"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Okikazu Maeshiro is stationed at a loom in his family\u2019s atelier in Motobu, a district overlooking the East China Sea on the western coast of Okinawa\u2019s main island. The region\u2019s notably humid climate is favored by the indigo plants used in Ry\u016bky\u016b-ai dyeing, and Motobu, dotted with fields where these species thrive, is Okinawa\u2019s indigo heartland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a deft precision honed over his years of devotion to the art of kasuri weaving, Maeshiro finesses the threads that he has painstakingly colored with Ry\u016bky\u016b-ai indigo through resist-dyeing, a technique that leaves adjacent sections uncolored. Passing these threads through the manually operated loom, patterns emerge in the resulting cloth: stripes, geometric shapes, and motifs inspired by the natural world. Together they are a paean to the blue seas and skies around Okinawa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maeshiro\u2019s family ties to the craft run deep\u2014 post-World War II, his paternal grandfather, K\u014dsei Maeshiro, was an important figure in the revival of Ry\u016bky\u016b indigo dyeing and kasuri weaving, together known as senshoku. In addition to honoring traditional Ry\u016bky\u016ban patterns, Maeshiro\u2019s grandfather devised his own original designs, referring to them as \u201cRy\u016bky\u016b bigasuri\u201d to distinguish his creations from the kasuri weavings of others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet the intricacies of the form were a mystery to Maeshiro as he was growing up. \u201cFrom the moment I became aware of my surroundings, my father would be indigo dyeing while my mother was weaving,\u201d he says. \u201cBut as a child, I wasn\u2019t permitted to enter the atelier due to the delicacy of the threads hanging there, so I didn\u2019t fully understand our household\u2019s work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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