Shiranami leather is a new leather type developed by PLOTTER in conjunction with a historic tannery in Himeji, an area known for its expertise in leather. It features a leather expression unique to PLOTTER – indigo-dyed leather with white wax bloom. The white waxy surface represents the foamy waves, which gain luster with use. When you cut through a piece of indigo-dyed leather, you’ll also glimpse its white core – this is a special characteristic that allows the leather to showcase the indigo blue on the canvas of the leather’s white base.

Not only is the leather dyed with natural indigo but is also inspired by “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji” by Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai. The signature piece “The Great Waves off Kanagawa” depicts the turbulent, white-crested waves which dominate the scene, whilst Mt. Fuji poses quietly in the background. In Japanese, these crashing waves are called “shiranami.”

The spine of the book is strained and shaved meticulously to make it easy to open and close. Due to the nature of leather, the density of the transition varies depending on the parts of the leather. The thickness of the leather can vary from piece to piece because the craftsmen are making the products one by one according to the condition of the leather. Please enjoy it as the unique character of real leather.

PLOTTER worked with a heritage tannery in Himeji to create Shiranami Leather. The tannery’s 100-year-long history and technology enabled them to apply “Aizome” to leather, a dyeing process using natural indigo. Starting with a special tannin-tanned pure white leather designed exclusively for Indigo dye, each piece of leather is then dyed with natural indigo and vegetable oil. In the last step, the leather is infused with a generous amount of white wax from the leather core to the surface.

This color hue is inspired by the famous indigo color that has been utilized in Japan since the Asuka Period (710-794). The usage of the color was so widespread that there was a time when Japan was dyed “all blue” with indigo. Irish-Greek-Japanese writer Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (later known as Koizumi Yakumo) was known for introducing the culture and literature of Japan to the rest of the world and he dubbed indigo blue the iconic color of Japan when he first set foot in the country.

Leather is a natural material from animals, so it has individual differences and flavors that cannot be found in man-made products. The expression of leather is not uniform due to blood vessels, small scratches, linear wrinkles, or uneven color bands while undergoing processing. This is not a defective product, but a sign of real leather. PLOTTER retains the individual differences of leather to show the charm of leather.