Ritofu

A Kyoto Dyeing House Known for Hand-Painted Kyo-Yuzen

Sairin Co., Ltd. is a Kyoto dyeing house that has practiced hand-painted Kyo-yuzen across three generations. Its kimono have been worn by members of the Japanese Imperial Family — a distinction earned through a technique that is considered rare even within the narrow world of Kyoto kimono.

In 2020, Tomoko Fujii took over as president from her father, Hiroshi Fujii, who is regarded as one of the master dyers of his generation. She grew up inside this world. What she inherited was not only a business but a set of questions about how to keep it alive.

Tomoko Fujii

What makes hand-painted yuzen rare

Kyo-yuzen is a Kyoto dyeing tradition known for its multi-color gradations, fine detail, and, in its most accomplished form, embroidery and gold leaf applied over the dyed ground. Hand-painted work now accounts for only around ten percent of all Kyo-yuzen produced; the rest is screen-printed or stenciled.

In hand-painted yuzen, the design begins in the dyer's mind and is carried out entirely by hand, from the first sketch through every stage of color. Sairin uses a wide brush rather than the narrow brush that is standard in the field. The wider brush demands greater control, but it lets the color sink deep into the silk fibers, producing a depth that surface application cannot match.

Kimono by Hiroshi Fujii

"There are about fifteen processes in making a Kyo-yuzen kimono — drafting, resist application, dyeing, finishing — each with its own specialist. We have long-standing direct relationships with these craftspeople. The gradations and multi-color brushwork that require the highest skill are techniques that cannot be replicated elsewhere."
— Tomoko Fujii

Wide-brush application — color dyed through to the core of the silk

Bringing Kyo-Yuzen into Everyday Life

Ritofu is Sairin's original brand, created to bring hand-painted Kyo-yuzen out of the formal kimono context and into everyday use. The line includes kimono as well as clutch bags, pouches, and accessories made from the same dyed silk.

Fujii's reasoning is simple: the techniques and aesthetic sensibility that go into formal kimono are no less valuable when applied to something smaller. And for people outside Japan, or anyone who has never worn kimono, these smaller pieces offer a way in.

"I want to preserve the techniques and the aesthetic sense that have been part of Japanese life for centuries — but that doesn't mean old-fashioned is the only path. Keeping up with what is genuinely enjoyable and relevant for women today matters. I took on new challenges in order to preserve what is good."
— Tomoko Fujii

To Stay the Same, Keep Changing

For Fujii, the reason to change is the same as the reason to preserve.

"New technologies appear and disappear quickly. Traditional culture moves differently — it has a worldview, an aesthetic, a set of stories built up over a long period of time. That is what people from outside Japan are drawn to. To stay the same, we continue to change."
— Tomoko Fujii

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