He found some and brought the art back to life. The U.S. occupation of Japan saw a new type of customer, and the business flourished while the troops bought bingata postcards as souvenirs. Eiki Shiroma's son, Eijun Shiroma, is continuing the family tradition as the 15th generation of his family to be practicing the techniques handed down since the time was produced under the patronage of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Eijun's works can still be seen today at his Shimroma Studio. The oldest piece known was found on the island of Kumejima and dates to the late 15th century. The dyes for are made from plants, and include Ryukyuan (indigo), (a high tree of family), () and (), and as pigment, (cochineal), (cinnabar), (orpiment), (Indian ink) and (aleurone)". In recent years, variations of the pigments have been created, and hibiscus, deigo flowers and sugar cane leaves have been used in the designs. Manufacturing process The production of is labour-intensive, with it taking three people three days to paint the material for just one kimono, and then a further month to finish it. Although kimono are hard to come by, hand-made T-shirts can be found for around $40 and curtains for around $200. A cotton kimono can cost about $500 and a silk kimono $1,000. There are ten labour-intensive steps to producing Ryukyu : Stencil cutting:Mulberry papers are coated with persimmon tannin and sealed together to form a firm sheet. A design is drawn onto the paper directly or traced from another source. The details are cut with a small blade and afterwards it is coated again to keep it from bending. Stencil resist painting:A special rice-paste made from boiled rice, rice bran and water is scraped across the top of the stencil on the cloth. Freehand resist painting:If a large area is needed to be painted, a freehand technique is used to apply the rice-paste resist onto the fabric. The paste is put into a bag and squeezed onto the fabric. Painting:Prepared paints are painted onto the fabric starting from lighter to darker colours. One design can use from 9 to 18 different colours. Re-painting:To achieve a more vibrant colour the paints are added once more and this time rubbed into the cloth with a stiff brush made out of human hair. Details:Details around the edges of each object are added to emphasise the image. Next the fabric is steamed so