In Blue We Trust
Shiki-nagashi and the Contours of Blue
Nature often creates scenes more beautiful than a human hand can. DWS is a collective of artists who established shiki-nagashi, a technique that borrows the buoyancy and flow of water to create one-of-a-kind patterns. To mark the opening of our new Shibuya PARCO store, Japan Blue Jeans worked with them to create a special shopping bag. Its shades of blue are as deep as the fading of well-worn denim. What patterns did the flowing water draw?
Photograph & Videograph: Yuko Sugimoto
Edit & Text: Rui Konno
Edit & Text: Rui Konno
Not far from Tokyo, in a residential corner of Kanagawa, stands the base of Dirty Workers Studio, known as DWS. The atelier is a converted house, and the people who gather there are friends who met when they were young. They were once students at the same school, and what brought them together in their present form was a chance occasion.
“It started with three of us: me, who was studying hair and makeup, and Kota Mori and Kaoru Iwamoto, who were studying special effects makeup at the same school. Back in school, I had hardly met Kaoru. About five years after graduating, a mutual acquaintance gathered us and said, ‘We’re setting up a booth at Summer Sonic, so could you do something there?’ The three of us talked it over and decided to do body marbling, placing patterns onto people’s hands.”
So says Midori Arai, one of the founding members. The idea was to draw a pattern on the surface of water and transfer it directly onto the body. It drew on their training in makeup, and it got a strong response.
“It was so much fun. We said, ‘It would be great if we could make this our job.’ That was ten years ago.”
“It started with three of us: me, who was studying hair and makeup, and Kota Mori and Kaoru Iwamoto, who were studying special effects makeup at the same school. Back in school, I had hardly met Kaoru. About five years after graduating, a mutual acquaintance gathered us and said, ‘We’re setting up a booth at Summer Sonic, so could you do something there?’ The three of us talked it over and decided to do body marbling, placing patterns onto people’s hands.”
So says Midori Arai, one of the founding members. The idea was to draw a pattern on the surface of water and transfer it directly onto the body. It drew on their training in makeup, and it got a strong response.
“It was so much fun. We said, ‘It would be great if we could make this our job.’ That was ten years ago.”
Changing the canvas from the human body to Kent paper and washi, the three searched for their own form of expression. Along the way, they made a discovery.
“Only after we started doing it ourselves did we learn that Japan has an art called sumi-nagashi. It’s said to date back to the Heian period, and it’s a really refined, cool technique. But what we wanted to do was a little different from that refined sumi-nagashi, and from Western marbling too. We had a feel for both, and we wanted street elements, Japanese elements and natural elements in there, mixed with each of our own personalities. We wanted to honor the Japanese tradition of sumi-nagashi while doing it our own way, so we started calling it shiki-nagashi.”
“Only after we started doing it ourselves did we learn that Japan has an art called sumi-nagashi. It’s said to date back to the Heian period, and it’s a really refined, cool technique. But what we wanted to do was a little different from that refined sumi-nagashi, and from Western marbling too. We had a feel for both, and we wanted street elements, Japanese elements and natural elements in there, mixed with each of our own personalities. We wanted to honor the Japanese tradition of sumi-nagashi while doing it our own way, so we started calling it shiki-nagashi.”
They fill a tray with water and draw an image on the surface by dropping in paints they have mixed themselves, with an acrylic base, a little at a time. Arai says it took four or five years before she could express the image she had in mind.
“But it’s not that I’m giving shape to the image in my head exactly as it is. In my case, I’d say about 70% is the image of the goal, and the remaining 30% or so is decided by how the water flows and how the paint falls. There’s nothing wrong with making something under complete control, but to me that feels very artificial. I prefer things with the beauty of natural forces, not just what I can think up in my head. Thoroughly conceptual expression is cool too, but I’m a more intuitive person, and that balance is what I find interesting.”
True to the name shiki-nagashi, they excel at vivid, multicolored work. Japan Blue Jeans deliberately asked them for something devoted to blue.
“Usually we get orders for around five to ten colors. But when we first asked Japan Blue, ‘What colors shall we use?’, they gave us just one. (laughs) We also heard they had in mind the lapis lazuli pattern used in the store interiors, and we really felt how much they value blue. So we decided to make that color stand out without wavering. Blue ranges from reddish tones to deep, strong ones, and I wanted to use all those different tones to bring out the impact of blue.”
“But it’s not that I’m giving shape to the image in my head exactly as it is. In my case, I’d say about 70% is the image of the goal, and the remaining 30% or so is decided by how the water flows and how the paint falls. There’s nothing wrong with making something under complete control, but to me that feels very artificial. I prefer things with the beauty of natural forces, not just what I can think up in my head. Thoroughly conceptual expression is cool too, but I’m a more intuitive person, and that balance is what I find interesting.”
True to the name shiki-nagashi, they excel at vivid, multicolored work. Japan Blue Jeans deliberately asked them for something devoted to blue.
“Usually we get orders for around five to ten colors. But when we first asked Japan Blue, ‘What colors shall we use?’, they gave us just one. (laughs) We also heard they had in mind the lapis lazuli pattern used in the store interiors, and we really felt how much they value blue. So we decided to make that color stand out without wavering. Blue ranges from reddish tones to deep, strong ones, and I wanted to use all those different tones to bring out the impact of blue.”
Arai and Iwamoto chatting as they work in the atelier. Besides the three founders, two more members have joined, and the studio now runs with five people.
The shopping bag that DWS created carries a shiki-nagashi graphic in shades of blue. It will be given, in limited quantities, to customers who make a purchase at Japan Blue Jeans SHIBUYA PARCO, which opens on Friday, November 20.
For three days from the opening through Sunday, November 22, we will also hold a custom workshop for customers who purchase five-pocket jeans. At the time of purchase, the paper patch on the back of the waistband is removed in store. The DWS crew then applies shiki-nagashi to it on the spot, turning it into a one-of-a-kind piece with its own pattern. Our craftsperson sews it back on right there, and the jeans are handed over as a pair that exists nowhere else in the world.
For three days from the opening through Sunday, November 22, we will also hold a custom workshop for customers who purchase five-pocket jeans. At the time of purchase, the paper patch on the back of the waistband is removed in store. The DWS crew then applies shiki-nagashi to it on the spot, turning it into a one-of-a-kind piece with its own pattern. Our craftsperson sews it back on right there, and the jeans are handed over as a pair that exists nowhere else in the world.
DWS Custom Workshop: Event Details
Dates: Friday, November 20 – Sunday, November 22, 2026
Hours: 11:00–21:00 (last entry 20:30)
Eligibility: Customers who purchase five-pocket jeans and wish to participate
Fee: Free (purchase of an eligible item is required)
Duration: About 20 minutes until handover
How to join: Let the store staff know at the time of purchase
Depending on how busy the store is, we may assign time slots at sign-up. Thank you for your understanding.
Dates: Friday, November 20 – Sunday, November 22, 2026
Hours: 11:00–21:00 (last entry 20:30)
Eligibility: Customers who purchase five-pocket jeans and wish to participate
Fee: Free (purchase of an eligible item is required)
Duration: About 20 minutes until handover
How to join: Let the store staff know at the time of purchase
Depending on how busy the store is, we may assign time slots at sign-up. Thank you for your understanding.
About DWS
Founded in 2016, DWS is a collective of artists who champion shiki-nagashi, an update of the traditional Japanese technique sumi-nagashi shaped by their own sensibilities and perspective. Their presence continues to grow through work in Japan and abroad.
https://www.dirtyworkersstudio.com/
Instagram: @dwsjapan
Founded in 2016, DWS is a collective of artists who champion shiki-nagashi, an update of the traditional Japanese technique sumi-nagashi shaped by their own sensibilities and perspective. Their presence continues to grow through work in Japan and abroad.
https://www.dirtyworkersstudio.com/
Instagram: @dwsjapan
Japan Blue Jeans SHIBUYA PARCO
Shibuya PARCO 5F, 15-1 Udagawa-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
TEL +81-3-6416-4862
OPEN 11:00–21:00
Opening Friday, November 20
VIEW MAP
TEL +81-3-6416-4862
OPEN 11:00–21:00
Opening Friday, November 20
VIEW MAP