Tegaki-zome (手描き染め) is a traditional Japanese textile art, originating in the 17th century, in which designs are painted directly onto silk by hand, allowing color, line and detail to be developed with the freedom of a painting.

The technique represents a major breakthrough in the history of Japanese textile dyeing. Earlier methods such as shibori resist-dyeing and stencil dyeing could create sophisticated patterns and multiple colors, but they were technically limited in their ability to produce the fine lines, subtle color transitions and unrestricted pictorial detail of a painting.

A decisive breakthrough came with the development of resist paste, traditionally made from glutinous rice. Artisans could draw extremely fine lines with the paste, creating a barrier that prevented dye from flowing beyond the intended area. This made it possible to control individual sections of a design while painting directly onto the fabric with brushes and fine tools.

The result was a new level of freedom in textile design: flowers, landscapes and other motifs could be rendered across the fabric with intricate detail, layered color and soft gradation.