PIGMENTS

In order to make books more beautiful, premodern Japanese bookmakers used a variety of methods, one of which was to add color to the paper itself. This was done for a variety of reasons, and using different methods.

Most commonly used pigments:

For yellows: ōbaku or Kihada (Phellodendron amurense) commonly called Amur Cork tree – used in paper for sutras and religious texts. Its bitter flavor was thought to repel insects.
For browns: kakishibu (persimmon extract): produce a reddish brown color that gets more intense with repeated applications. When applied in generous amounts, it is thought to repel insects.
For browns: chōji , a tree in the family Myrtaceae, Syzygium aromaticum. Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of this tree. The liquid made from the boiled down dried but is used for dyeing.
For blues: ai (indigo): in can be made darker through repeated dyeings.
For reds:benibana (safflower, Carthamus tinctorius): it’s also used for rouge. For dyeing, the flowers at the tip of the stem, it is also called suetsumuhana meaning picking a flower on the top edge.
For purples: murasaki plant: Boraginaceae , perennial plants. Liquid made from their root is used for dyeing. The purple is recognized as a noble color. But this color fades away easily when exposed to UV rays.

Heike Monogatari
Mottomo no sōshi, Kan’ei 11 (1634)
Kanke Bunsō, early Edo period
Shibi-inkycō
Kindai shūka, Eishō 12 (1515)
Henjō Hokkishō Rysōshū
Gokanjo, Genwakane

http://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/

Tsukezome and hitashizome

The method known as either tsukezome (dip-dyeing) or hitashizome(soak-dying) consists in adding color to the paper after it has dried and gives a particularly vibrant color.

The process of adding the coloring pigment directly to the pulp during the sheet-forming process is called sukizome.

The colors obtained using this method are usually less vibrant. For more vibrant colors, the tsukezome/hitashizome (“soaking”) method is more effective. The video will introduced old Buddhist texts decorated with this technique.

In the hakezome method, the color is applied with a paintbrush to the finished book.

Sometimes the brush strokes were deliberately left visible to form patterns. The most common color is brown obtained from persimmon extract. It was typically used on basic book covers made by simply folding a sheet of paper in two. Because many books of this kind are courtiers’ journals, this type of cover is known as “journal-style cover” (kiroku hyōshi).

BUDDHIST TEXT DATING FROM THE SECOND HALF OF THE 11TH CENTURY

Chōtori shitae kyō (Sutra with Butterflies and Bird Patterns, attributed to empress Kōmyō, Tokyo National Museum) 伝光明皇后筆蝶鳥下絵経切

Suminagashi

The last type of traditional coloring method we look at is marbling (suminagashi, literally “ink-spreading”

Marbling consists in floating dots of ink on water and gently working them to create interesting patterns. As the last step, a sheet of paper is immersed in the solution so that the pattern is transferred onto the paper. Already in use in the Heian period, the method remained in use until the early-modern period (1600-1868). By the 18th century, black ink was often combined with other colors, such as blue, red or gold. The final effect is similar to the marbled papers produced by Western papermakers.

Sukizome