On white silk crepe, streams and showers are painted with indigo dye. The swirling plantain leaves are also dyed, and embroidery is added for color effect. The light, cool motif adds to the fresh, clean beauty of the yuzen dyeing. Yuzen is a technique of dyeing fabric in multicolored ornate patterns using paste resist. As soon as this technique was established by the fan painter, Miyazaki Yuzen, in the Genroku era (1688-1704�j, its use spread widely and rapidly, encouraged by the availability of silk crepe. The motifs used in yuzen dyeing range from flowers, figures, and landscapes to those inspired by ancient poetry, Noh songs and literature.