Fujisaki Bingata Studio

Fujisaki Bingata Studio is a bingata dyeing workshop in Motobu, in Okinawa's northern Yanbaru region, run by Makoto Fujisaki. Fujisaki first came to Okinawa in 1971 and trained under Aiko Nadoyama, a painter who led the postwar effort to revive bingata after the craft was nearly lost; Fujisaki formally established his own studio in 1974 and relocated it to Yanbaru in 1995, "in search of unspoiled nature," as the studio's own account puts it.

Bingata is Okinawa's traditional stencil resist-dyeing technique, historically associated with the Ryukyu Kingdom court. Fujisaki's studio distinguishes itself by drawing its colorants from fallen mangrove and fukugi tree bark rather than purchased pigment, a plant-dye approach the studio says produces "vibrant yet soft colors." All work is done by hand, following techniques passed down from Fujisaki's training rather than mechanized production.

The studio's output spans silk shawls, kimono, obi, tapestries, noren doorway curtains, parasols, fans and bags, sold alongside hands-on dyeing sessions for visitors. Fujisaki's five decades in the craft have brought recognition including the Okinawa Prefecture Superior Craftsperson Award in 2012, solo exhibitions in Paris, and recurring displays at Yokohama's Takashimaya department store — a level of institutional recognition unusual for a workshop still run out of a single hilltop studio.