Kyoto’s katazome tradition

In a century-old wooden workshop on the edge of Kyoto, Bamba Dyeing Factory carries forward the traditional Japanese practice of ‘katazome’, hand-stencil dyeing. Fourth-generation craftsman Norio Bamba now leads his family’s business with a steady, practical focus, moving between pigment buckets, slanted printing boards and long reams of cotton fabric that drape the length of the hall. Founded in 1913 as a kimono dyeing house, the factory stayed committed to hand-printing even as others shifted to machines, adapting its skills to ‘furoshiki’ and ‘tenugui’ while preserving techniques few attempt today – including dyeing the selvedge completely by hand.