Mori-sensei, Kuro Hachijo craftsman in Akiruno City, Tokyo.
Sample shown is a knit silk neck-warmer; dyed with yashabushi (or yashadama) a type of alder tree cone, then mordanted with iron-rich mud from local area. The process can be repeated many times over to achieve deeper tones- as many as 80-100 or more times for rich blacks and browns. The mud-mordanted product is then taken to be washed thoroughly in the nearby Akigawa river, in a place where the flow is steady but gentle, and the water is clear.
A (somewhat distorted) view of Mori-sensei's silk spinning mill. Individual silk filaments are plied into thread of varying sizes by stretching them across the long room and spinning them with a hand-crank-operated mechanism on a track. Special care is taken by the craftsman to ensure proper tension, moving the spinning mechanism on a track to lengthen or shorten the distance between one end and another. Mori-sensei is one of the few thread producers using this mechanism and he notes that repairs are difficult to arrange when it is in need of maintenance.
Thanks to Mori-sensei, and to Hashimoto Tsutomu for arranging this experience.