Eleven days after summer solitice,
the harvest time of safflower and Japanese prums
infused with the mythical power of the sun.

From ancient times, Japanese people have been enjoying the seasonal beauty and following the rythm of nature through a cup of tea. This little series of Toridori's seasonal letter was born to bring — a little spoonful of  — seasonal beauty and nature's rythm into our life.

For the third letter, I wanted to feature the Japanese tradition of safflower dyeing. 

It was 1554 when a botanist Rembert Dodoens from the Low Countries published the book "Het Cruydeboeck ("The herb book" in English)". This is probably the first book that described safflower in Belgium. When he wrote this book, safflower had already been a very important dye in Japan for centuries to make beautiful silk textiles with various red hues — from delicate "sakura" pink to deep crimson red ("韓紅 kara-kurenai" in Japanese).

To create these beautiful colors, safflowers and Japanese prums were harvested and processed at this specific time of the year. As an agronomist, it is easy for me to say that the harvest season for both plants is actually unrelated to summer solitice itself. But, I somehow feel also fascinated to think of the beautiful silk infused with the mythical power of the sun.

Erina