Hydrangea

紫陽花 ajisai

Hydrangea

The flower of the rainy season (tsuyu), often drawn wet with raindrops. A Man'yōshū poem likens its many layered florets to lasting prosperity, and its shifting colours earn it the name shichihenge, "seven changes".

Japan (native hydrangea), named in the Man'yōshū

The hydrangea is native to Japan and appears in Man'yōshū poems. It became a textile pattern after the Edo period, when Rinpa painters drew its large blue-purple heads; it was used on Noh costume and is now seen mostly on casual kimono, obi and yukata.

Worn from the rainy season into midsummer, often drawn with raindrops or with snails and rain; the kanji 紫陽花 were borrowed from a poem by Bai Juyi.

Technique catalog · draft for review

Every way to wrap, carry and wear a furoshiki.

The furoshiki.com archive, sliced into annotated steps with plain directions, plus techniques found in research.