Washing lengths of dyed silk in the river

The print depicts yuzen-nagashi, the traditional rinsing of freshly dyed kimono cloth in flowing river water—a process historically associated with Kyoto's Kamo and Horikawa rivers and other dyeing centers. The composition arranges parallel ribbons of colored silk extended across the current, with figures kneeling at the bank or wading in shallows to manage the lengths as the water carries away surplus dye and rice paste. Mokuhanga technique is well suited to the subject's flat color fields and crisp linear edges: the silk lengths read as graphic accents against [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi)-graded water. As a documentary subject, the image preserves a craft process that was already contracting during Kitaoka's lifetime, displaced by indoor industrial dyeing and changes in kimono consumption. It connects to his broader interest in Japanese working life and traditional crafts, alongside fishing-village and farming subjects, within the [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) framework of artist-led carving and printing on [washi](/glossary/washi).