THE 75 KIMONOS
© 2000
It came about that Itchiku was sent to war at a very young age. Due to his lack of experience, he soon fell into enemy
hands and was sent to a labour camp in Siberia, along with many other soldiers. The weather was bitterly cold with a constant wind
which froze the marrow in their bones. Under these conditions, the prisoners of war had to work long and hard. Many fell ill
and died.
Every night Itchiku prayed to God and begged Him for strength enough for the next day. And as if by a miracle, he remained
steadfast in the face of the cold and ice and survived all the illnesses which cut down many of his comrades.
Always, as Itchiku
lay exhausted on his plank-bed at the end of the day, he thought about home. The village in which he lived lay at the foot of a great
mountain, whose peak was always snow-capped. He loved his work as a dyer and he was always striving to perfect the colour of the fabrics.
He had once discovered a piece of silk in a museum, which was so perfectly coloured that he had never seen anything like it before.
No one was able to tell him anything about the old technique since nobody had used it for the past 300 years. Even his master, for
all his experience, did not know much, and advised him to rejoice in the sight of it and not to think too much about its realisation.
But Itchiku often thought about it.
He had been six years in the camp and Itchiku’s thoughts of his homeland were full of longings.
Each day the hard labour seemed to him tougher than the day before, as his attention was constantly on his home. He thought with sadness
of his friends and family, whom he might never see again. Humbly he prayed to God to take his sadness from him. All of a sudden,
Itchiku felt a great joy swelling up in his heart. It spread throughout his being, leaving no place for sad thoughts. Suddenly nothing
seemed quite as bad as before, his work became easy and he was full of the joy of life.
Thus it came about that Itchiku Kubota,
out of gratefulness and humility, made a great promise to God. He vowed to dye 75 kimonos for God with the most perfect of techniques,
if he could only return home again.
Two weeks later he succeeded in escaping from the labour camp, and with the help of some
good people he was back in his village at the foot of Fujijama a few months later. He knew very well whom he had to thank for
his escape and he also remembered the promise he had made. In order to be able to honour it, Itchiku needed money. So he worked
for five years to save enough for his venture. He thought that in the next five years he would succeed in finding a dyeing technique
that corresponded to the one he had seen in the museum. However almost ten years were to pass before Itchiku,, after many attempts,
was happy with the result and ready to start his work.
He found the designs for the kimonos in nature. For hours together, he
stared at the landscape and meditated upon it. Subsequently he tried to transfer these impressions to the kimonos. He got more and
more into the swing of his work until, finally, it only took him one year to complete a single kimono. Every single piece, made from
the finest silk, was a masterpiece in itself, but together they formed a truly perfect example of the art of handicrafts. The design
of each kimono was like a piece of a puzzle and all the kimonos together formed a complete picture of indescribable beauty.
When
he had finished 43 of these precious garments, a good friend of his told him that he should show others what he had promised God.
Itchiku agreed and thus it was that the kimonos were exhibited all over the world and turned people's thoughts to God.
Itchiku
Kubota is now 87 years old and, just as he promised God, he is still busy dyeing the remaining kimonos. The technique he invented
was given the name of Itchiku Tsujigahana and is acknowledged in Japan as being the most perfect of all dyeing techniques. The story
happened exactly as it is described here and if you would like to marvel at the kimonos, then ask God and, who knows, perhaps the
kimonos will be exhibited in your town, too.