Culture, History, and Tradition

    Today we had a restful morning, some of us taking advantage of our 12:00pm start time to sleep in or catch up on assignments. When we did eventually all gather downstairs we left the hotel and headed to the Monorail station closest to us, even a short walk like this one had everyone feeling the heat. It was a sweltering 89 degrees with a humidity index of 90% in Naha today so it was not surprising that even as we got off the monorail and approached our destination on foot, we all continued to be subjected to the intense heat. Despite this, however, the sky was bright and we were able to appreciate the buildings, greenery, and even public art that we passed on our way. 

When we arrived at the Bingata Museum we were immediately greeted by courteous staff members in traditional dress and an inviting lobby in which many stunning handmade textiles were being displayed. The art of Ryukyu Bingata is a practice native to Okinawa and based on an ancient method of dyeing fabric developed by the Ryukyu, Okinawa's former monarchy. Today we got to dye our own fabric in this famous style, each of us picking a small tote bag to paint dye onto. We were then taught by kind instructors how to layer on and rub in the dye with short bristled brushes. The order was very specific, with lighter colors needing to be dried with a hair dryer before moving on to darker shades. It is also necessary to cover each part with two coats of this dye, in order to ensure proper pigmentation, before moving on to darker ink for creating gradients in the pattern. 

The finished product was then placed in a slim bag and we were given instructions to care for our dyed bags since in order to stain properly it has to be left to dry for several days. As a whole everyone at my table got very into the process, focusing completely on staining our designs carefully and in the correct order with guidance from the instructors. In the end, we said warm farewells to the staff and were directed to the small shop to purchase souvenirs for ourselves, our friends, and our families. However, luckily before we all departed, we were given the unique opportunity to see how the weaving process of fabric, also unique to Okinawa, was created. We were given exclusive looks at the dyeing of silk threads and the preparation of these colorful threads for weaving. A talented expert in the craft shared details of every aspect of the two-month-long process in Japanese, which was then quickly translated by Miki. The entire experience was highly educational, it was very admirable that despite new machinery that can complete the creation of this fabric much quicker, the original handcraft is still being kept alive. As someone who has studied many culturally significant ancient textile practices, many of them are lost to time, so it is immensely important to keep these practices alive in their original form. 

At the end of the visit, I think we all had a greater appreciation for the cultural significance of Okinawan textiles and the connections they provide for Okinawans to their past history. After departing from the Museum, some of us headed back to rest and left the hotel late in the evening for dinner and a night of karaoke. Besides a hectic night of packing for our weekend excursion coming up today was a restful and insightful day, with all of us gaining a new art skill and a hand dyed bag that will remind of us our time spent here.