Japanese Yukata Jinbei Bishamon Navy pattern Paper Plates

A traditional Japanese Bishamon stencil pattern in traditional Japanese colors, in this case Navy blue on white background. The Bishamon pattern is associated with a Buddhist deity. The pattern is some kind of tripod based on a hexagon. You will see several implementations, on of which I present here. This kind of pattern is often used on fabric for yukata or a jinbei, traditional Japanese clothes for in the hot summer months. But I have seen the pattern also used as part of a kimono. When you think of this type of fabric, resist dyeing comes to mind. In Japan vintage techniques are roketsuzome with wax, katazome, yuzen and tsutsgaki with rice paste. A favorite method of applying paste is by means of a stencil.