From amulet pouches to zabuton floor cushions. Ponpindo carries on the tradition of katazome dyeing while flexibly reshaping it for today.

Around the world, and of course in Japan as well, there are many techniques for dyeing color and pattern onto fabric. Among these, "katazome" (stencil dyeing) is said to allow for the most intricate expression of patterns.

This time, we visited Ponpindo, a brand born from Sarakei, a katazome dye shop founded in 1867 (Keio 3), to explore the charm of katazome and the beauty of its patterns.

Where Ponpindo's katazome comes to life

The workshop we visited was located between Asakusa Station and Minami-Senju Station. Just a short distance from the bustle of the tourist area, the atmosphere shifts dramatically into that of a traditional shitamachi (old downtown) neighborhood, dotted with workshops that seem to have been rooted here for generations, sustained by the craft of making things.

Sarakei was originally founded near Sensoji Temple in Asakusa. After moving locations a few times over the years, it returned to Asakusa again in 2014. The current workshop, remarkably, used to be a medical clinic. Starting from a space where the waiting room and examination room still remained as they were, the family and their friends took down the walls, laid flooring, and built most of the dyeing workspace themselves.

In this space, which carries the same warmth and gentleness one feels from Ponpindo's products, three family members handle everything—from planning and design to production and shipping.

We spoke with Mr. Ono, the representative of Ponpindo, and his wife, Motoko.

Sarakei's traditional katazome technique: noriboosen sootezashi (paste-resist dyeing with hand-applied color)

Founded roughly 150 years ago, at the end of the Edo period, Sarakei is Motoko's family business, now in its fifth generation. It has continued as an "Edo katazome shop," dyeing kimono bolts of cloth and obi sashes.

Mr. Ono originally worked as a custom furniture designer. Before meeting Motoko, he says he had no connection whatsoever to katazome, let alone Japanese traditional crafts in general. What captivated him was the stencil paper Sarakei possesses, passed down since the Edo period.

To express patterns in katazome, a stencil paper with a design cut into washi (Japanese paper) is essential. Mr. Ono was struck by the intricacy and beauty of these designs, and by the techniques that had been passed down unbroken through the generations, and so he threw himself into this world.

There are many techniques within katazome, but Sarakei uses one called noriboosen sootezashi.

Put very simply, this involves "using a stencil to apply paste to the fabric, creating areas that will take dye and areas that won't, then applying color only to the areas that will take it."

The process is both dizzyingly elaborate and remarkably precious.

1. A pattern is carved into "shibugami," washi paper laminated together with persimmon tannin.

2. The shibugami is placed over the fabric, and paste is applied with a brush. The areas covered in paste are called the "resist areas" and will not take dye, so color will later be applied only to the remaining areas.

The paste used is made by mixing glutinous rice with water, salt, rice bran, and other ingredients.

3. A base treatment called "mameire" (bean application) is applied. Coating the entire fabric with soybean liquid improves dye uptake and, when color is later applied, helps prevent bleeding.

4. The fabric is set on a stand fitted with rollers, called a "kanteki," and color is applied. Each color is applied one at a time with a brush; once a section is finished, the fabric is pulled and rotated, and the process is repeated.

5. The fabric is steamed at high temperature, causing the dye to react and set into the fabric. This process brings out the true, settled color of the dye within the fabric.

6. The fabric is washed in water, carefully rinsing away the rice paste that formed the stencil pattern.

Rather than scrubbing, the fabric is gently pinched with the fingers and shaken in the water, a process repeated over the full length of the bolt.

After this, the fabric goes through color-fixing treatment, dehydration, drying, and final finishing, and only then is it complete.

Ponpindo's method: what emerges when you prioritize what you want to convey today

Ponpindo's foundation lies in this traditional Edo katazome, but it's clear that simply turning it into products as-is wouldn't work, given the need to balance usability in modern life with price.

What Ponpindo aims for is to help people discover the beauty of traditional patterns, to have them used freely and without hesitation in everyday life, and to be kept close so their qualities can be felt.

Through repeated trial and error to achieve this, they arrived at an expressive method combining "bassen" (discharge dyeing) and "nassen" (direct dyeing).

Bassen: A technique in which fabric is first dyed a single color, then a special paste is applied and only the stenciled areas have their color "removed," creating the pattern.

Nassen: A technique for applying color.

With bassen, it's possible to use a base fabric color with high colorfastness, making it ideal for creating items that can be carried around daily while conveying the appeal of katazome. Nassen is what breathes life into the patterns formed by bassen, adding further color to bring them alive.

If the fabric born from nori bōsen sōtezashi (rice-paste resist hand-dyeing) is a traditional craft, then the katazome (stencil dyeing) that Ponpindo (本品堂) creates is its entry line. Sarakei's technique, begun to convey the charm of traditional patterns, plus Ohno-san's design output equals Ponpindo—that's the equation.

Trying Katazome with a Mamoribukuro (Charm Pouch)

Taking advantage of the couple's kindness, we were given the chance to try katazome ourselves. What we attempted was the "mamoribukuro" (charm pouch), a popular item at ZUTTO as well. These are small drawstring pouches decorated with auspicious lucky patterns such as beckoning cats, Mount Fuji, and shippō (seven treasures). In the Edo period, people carried these pouches in their bosoms to hold amulets and talismans, or gave them to children to ward off evil.

The material used for the mamoribukuro is Aizu cotton. Woven slowly on one of the few remaining Toyota looms in Japan, the fabric has a slightly rough texture and a rich, non-uniform character.

The starting point is fabric already dyed in different colors depending on the pattern, and already sewn into pouch shapes.

Two types of stencils are needed to apply the pattern to the mamoribukuro.

One is for bleach-dyeing the overall form of the pattern. The other is for adding color on top of the pattern through hand-painted dyeing. The image below shows the stencil used for bleach-dyeing. Shapes like rabbits, plovers, and shippō have been cut out.

The image below shows the fabric after a special paste has been applied using this stencil to bleach out the shapes. You can see that each shape has had its color removed.

What we got to try was the adorable sheep pattern. The work involves adding color on top of the areas that have been bleach-dyed into the shape of the sheep.

1. Carving the Stencil for Dyeing

The parts where color is added are the round eyes and the round horns. A design drawing is pasted onto the stencil paper, and it's carved using a pen-shaped knife. You trace along the design drawing with the blade, but the pen tip doesn't always bend the way you want it to, leading to some failed attempts...

At Ponpindo, the roles are roughly divided so that Ohno-san handles design and dyeing, while Motoko-san carves the stencils.

2. Mixing the Colors

Since these pouches are meant to be carried and used daily, synthetic pigments are used. Multiple colors are mixed together as we search for the right shade. With detailed instructions like "Add one more drop of blue. Just a bit more..." the color is finally completed.

3. Adding the Color (Dyeing)

Color is applied using a small brush made of deer hair with bristles all the same length, similar to a small deck brush. Only a tiny amount of dye is needed—according to Ohno-san, you place dye on about 2mm of the brush tip, spread it evenly on a plate, and then move the brush in small circular motions to work it into the fabric. If you apply the dye thickly, the way you might with watercolors, it seeps under the stencil and bleeds into unexpected places.

Since each part of the sheep's horns has a gradation running from the outside toward the inside, you first paint the darker outer areas, then work the color inward, blending it as you go.

4. Setting the Color with Heat to Finish

Since not much dye is used, it doesn't take long to dry. After a careful ironing, it's complete!

Looking only at the finished piece, I thought, "Maybe I did well!" But when I compared it to the actual product's sheep, the finish was completely different.

On the left is the staff's work, and on the right is Ohno-san's example.

Each part of the horns should have pointed corners with a rounded, charming quality, but that's not fully expressed here... This is something that's determined at the point of carving the stencil paper.

As for the crucial gradation, the color transition is weak, and I made the light areas too light, so the outline doesn't come through—points to reflect on. The eyes have too much dye on them and came out too large; it's surprising how much this alone changes the expression.

As you'd expect, it's not easy.

The charm of things made by hand is the warmth of the person conveyed through the product, but that is by no means the same as instability. It really struck me that it's precisely because the sense of pressure and touch, ingrained through years of experience, is carried in the hands that beauty can emerge alongside that warmth.

Still, even having only done the final step myself, I was happy with what I made. After thinking about what to use it for, I decided to put in my daily "lip balm, hand cream, and everyday medicine" set.

They said that once, they met a customer who had been using one of the early mamoribukuro for over ten years. The fabric and cord must have softened over time, and the colors likely changed too. This sheep, still crisp and new-looking now, is one I look forward to watching change as I use it over the coming years.

A phrase Ohno-san repeated often during the interview was "the softness at the edge of the paste (norigiwa)." Interpreting this, the charm of katazome lies in "the human hand." If all you wanted was precise, meticulous expression, there are plenty of other methods, like silkscreen. But that's not what's being sought here.

Katazome, in a sense, is an old-fashioned "printing press"—a method for efficiently and consistently producing the same pattern over and over. And yet, there is still a human hand at work in it, and with that, warmth.

People draw the patterns, people carve the stencils into washi paper, people apply the paste, and people add the colors. It was during this visit that I came to feel, once again, just how drawn I am to the soft, gentle expressions that emerge only through such a process.

Honpindo's mamoribukuro (amulet pouches) and small zabuton cushions

The mamoribukuro pouches from Honpindo (Ponpindo) that you've just seen come in a wide variety of patterns, each one an auspicious design based on wordplay that the sophisticated townspeople of Edo once favored.
For example, you might choose a design that carries a prayer for a friend who isn't feeling well to recover quickly, or one wishing for good health or the fulfillment of a wish—letting you select a pattern that conveys a heartfelt message for someone you care about. That makes these pouches a wonderful gift for someone special.

To give a few examples,

Mount Fuji

Mount Fuji has long been revered as a sacred mountain, and its beautiful, elegant form has been depicted in the design of countless works of art and craft. The reading "Fuji" is layered with meanings such as "immortality" (不死) and "unrivaled, without equal" (不二), making it a pattern that symbolizes good fortune, the fulfillment of one's wishes, and long life.

Chidori (plovers)

Chidori, or plovers, have long been beloved by people and depicted in the design of a wide variety of art and craft works. They appear in many different renderings, making them one of the animal motifs in which people's affection can truly be felt. Through the wordplay "chidori" (千鳥) sounding like "sentori" (千取り, meaning "to gain many things"), the pattern has come to symbolize the achievement of goals and prayers for victory.

Hyotan (gourd)

The hyotan gourd, with its vines spreading widely and fruits growing in abundant clusters, has been used in a variety of craft designs as an auspicious pattern representing "prosperity."
Additionally, since six gourds—"roku byou" (六瓢)—sounds like "mubyou" (無病, meaning "free of illness"), this has been considered a highly auspicious pattern wishing for health and longevity since the Edo period.

These mamoribukuro pouches are handy for holding seals, coins, prayer beads, or anything precious or easily misplaced. They're also just the right size for holding sweets.

Small zabuton cushions

These small zabuton cushions are being introduced on ZUTTO for the first time.

After the fabric is dyed at the workshop, a futon craftsman is asked to sew it into a cushion. Due to factors such as the aging of skilled artisans, zabuton cushions—along with the techniques behind them—have become something increasingly rare, now hardly ever found on the market.

These small zabuton cushions are filled with Indian cotton, prized for its excellent heat retention and moisture absorption. The raw cotton is passed repeatedly through a ginning machine to remove impurities, resulting in a soft, springy cotton fiber. Small enough to hold in both hands, these cushions use twice the usual amount of stuffing, giving them a satisfying thickness and resilience. Though called a zabuton, its shape is more like that of a cushion, making it perfect as a backrest when sitting in a chair or on a sofa. While the size is on the smaller side, it can of course still be used to sit on as well.