TORIDORI SEASONAL LETTER 02.

Harvest season for safflower dyers

半夏生の紅花しごと

2025 July 3 - 7

Hi, friends! How are you doing? 

To add a spoonful of seasonality in your tea cup, I am writing a small seasonal letter every month. This time, it is a special edition featuring "Hangesho (半夏生)" — the important season for safflower dyers in Japan. 

The history of safflower dye is older than Japanese tea. For centuries, Japanese people have been dyeing beautiful red textile using safflower and "ubai (烏梅)", the small black ingredient made by Japanese prum.

Eleven days after summer solistice (夏至 geshi), the season called "Hangesho (半夏生)" comes in the traditional Japanese calendar. This roughly coincides the 5-day period between July 1 and 6. For safflower dyers, this is the season for harvesting safflower petals and Japanese prum fruits to prepare for their next dye works.

Erina