Fragment of "Ban" (Buddhist Ritual Banner): "Banner Leg"

The tie-dye technique [kōkechi] is a resist-dyeing technique in which the dyer winds threads around small sections of cloth to keep the dye out. This example features a large nested diamond shape in the center which is surrounded by six smaller diamonds. These are further encircled by another set. The central nested diamond was formed using two windings, adding variation to the large, rhythmic design. A banner fragment (N-319-6) with a similar design on plain-weave silk exists, suggesting this strip of cloth was used as the lower section of a banner around the same period.

— Museum description: Tokyo National Museum (CC BY 4.0), via ColBase / Japan Search.