Rozome, or wax dyeing, the abbreviated form of roketsu-zome, was first seen in Japan in the seventh century CE. While wax-resist textiles are known world wide by the more familiar Indonesian word batik, the ancient form of Japanese rozome may actually pre-date Indonesian batik. Rozome and batik are similar, since both use wax and dye to put pattern and image on cloth, but the result is noticeably different. In batik, wax is applied primarily by a tjanting tool, or wax writing tool, and by tjaps, fabricated metal stamps. Color is added by successive dippings into dye vats (dip-dyeing). However, in rozome, brushes are used to apply both wax and dye allowing for fine control, multiple colors and often bokashi or graduated shading on each piece. While rozome is an advanced textile technique, many Japanese artists feel that it is actually based on 17th-century screen and scroll painting. In Japan some artists use the technique to create fine kimono, but the majority of contemporary rozome artists produce paintings, scrolls or screens.

See the World of Rozome: Wax Resist Textiles of Japan and Rozome Masters of Japan (exhibition catalog) for additional information on the process and history.

— Betsy Sterling Benjamin