It is obvious at first glance that the banner color schemes studded as they are with primary colors possess a power and grandeur born of the seagoing culture.
The banner-making process makes rich use of the glue-resist dyeing technique known as tsutsugaki (literally, tube drawing). Each item is drawn separately on the cloth for color dyeing.
One of Japan’s few remaining banner dye shops where the patterns are still drawn by hand is located in the Koyamachi district of Yonago City, Tottori Prefecture, which once flourished as Yonago’s castle town.

The tsutsugaki glue-resist dyeing technique uses a paste made by mixing pounded rice with rice bran and other ingredients. This paste is used to draw patterns on the cloth. The images exhibit the easy-going power and freedom associated with freehand drawing by brush. The pasted areas resist the dye and serve as boundaries between colors.
The banners’ most striking feature is their bold use of brilliant colors. Their original purpose was as a signal to convey the celebratory message of a bumper catch and tell people on the shore to prepare for its landing. In the absence of telecommunications and other systems, these large, simply identifiable characters and primary colors that could be seen across the water in all weather conditions were needed for waiting fishery workers to be able to move the catch as quickly as possible while it was still fresh. Technical advances in shipbuilding and communications have made that role redundant but the banners today serve as a congratulatory gift for new vessels and prayer for bumper catches and safety at sea.

Not many dye shops make fishing banners by the tsutsugaki glue-resist dyeing technique nowadays. The name, Koyamachi, where this workshop is located means Indigo Dye Shop Town, and is itself a testament to the long history of dyeing in this place.
Hishikawa researches the process of applying the resist. The bold patterns express the spirit of the fishermen out on the rolling deep with all the power of hand-drawn design through the free combination of fine images and ultra-thick lines.
The pictorial designs are planned in consultation with the client. Typical motifs include the treasure ship of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune, Ebisu, the god of bumper catches, or sea creatures such as crabs or squid that the boat has been built to catch. The traditional designs are respected but each and every design is also new because of the people who produce it. “They think about it with the customer and draw freehand with that spirit in mind,” says Hishikawa. “I think they bring joy to the owners when they receive these gifts.”

Hishikawa observes the colors embody “the prayer for the safety of those who risk their lives to set out on the sea.” The use of green beside red, the strong contrast between character and motif, these things are inherited from the past, Quick brushwork and dyeing are used to prevent uneven gradation from faint to striking colors.
Hishikawa explains, “The bumper catch banners front a life and death struggle. The feelings of both giver and receiver are strong. They are extremely important.” The banners are raised as a kind of amulet. They embody the wish for safe return. This gives them special value.

Hishikawa meets an owner whose first boat was launched in the early spring. He received nearly 30 banners from fellow fishermen and associates upon the completion of his boat. The boat was jam-packed with banners for its launching and set out fully armed with the good wishes of the donors. “Each and every banner embodies the unique good wishes of the giver. There are no others like them. They belong only to this boat,” says Hishikawa. “These banners look wonderful, they really do. And they perfectly express the earnest prayer that the receiver will come home safely, and will get those bumper catches.”