page_title: Bingata
section_title: Manufacturing process
hierarchical_section_title: Bingata / Manufacturing process
context_page_description: Bingata is a traditional stencilled resist dyeing technique originating in Okinawa Prefecture. Bingata typically features a busy pattern of repeating nature motifs such as fish, flowers and fauna in a number of bright colours. Bingata is worn during traditional Ryukyuan festivals and traditional arts performances.
  Bingata dates from the Ryūkyū Kingdom period, when the island of Okinawa experienced an influx of foreign goods and manufacturing techniques. It is believed to have developed as a synthesis of Indian, Chinese, and Javanese dying processes.
context_section_description: The production of bingata is labour-intensive, with it taking three people three days to paint the material for just one kimono, and then a further month to finish it. Although bingata kimono are hard to come by, hand-made bingata T-shirts can be found for around $40 and noren curtains for around $200. A cotton bingata kimono can cost about $500 and a silk kimono $1,000.
  There are ten labour-intensive steps to producing Ryukyu bingata:
  Stencil Cutting
  Mulberry papers are coated with persimmon tannin and sealed together to form a firm sheet. A design is drawn onto the paper directly or traced from another source. The details are cut with a small blade and afterwards it is coated again to keep it from bending.
  Stencil Resist Painting
  A special rice-paste made from boiled rice, rice bran and water is scraped across the top of the stencil on the cloth.
  Freehand Resist Painting
  If a large area is needed to be painted, a freehand technique is used to apply the rice-paste resist onto the fabric. The paste is put into a bag and squeezed onto the fabric.
  Painting
  Prepared paints are painted onto the fabric starting from lighter to darker colours. One design can use from 9 to 18 different colours.
  Re-Painting
  To achieve a more vibrant colour the paints are added once more and this time rubbed into the cloth with a stiff brush made out of human hair.
  Details
  Details around the edges of each object are added to emphasise the image. Next the fabric is steamed so the colours will set into the fabric and then it is washed.
  Background Resist
  To paint the background a separate colour, the rice-paste resist is now placed on all the previously painted areas.
  Background Painting
  The entire background of the fabric is painted with a wide brush or dipped in a dye bath.
  Colour Setting
  The fabric is set in a steamer for an hour to let the colours set.
  Washing
  The fabric is washed and dried.
  An example of bingata can be found in The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts.
caption: A bingata kobo, or manufacturing facility
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS Windows", "Image DateTime": "2004:05:31 19:19:50", "Image ExifOffset": "164", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "302", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7416", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "359", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "247"}