His assistant Tisna confirmed the death, saying Tirta had suffered from heart, lung and kidney problems for the past few years.

"We lost one of the country's best sons, but the government is going to realize his dream to establish a batik school in efforts to maintain it as national assets," Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik told private radio station Elshinta.

Born in the Central Java town Blora on April 18, 1935, Tirta was a graduate of the School of Oriental and African Studies at London University and later obtained a master's degree in law from Yale University.

But his mother's love of batik and her marvelous collection of batik turned his eyes to the traditional cloth.

His own love of batik and his commitment to preserve the "hokokai" motifs created by Indonesian batik makers about seven decades ago when Japan ruled the country led Tirta to revive the natural treasure.

The hokokai motifs -- dominated by cherry blossoms, chrysanthemum and butterflies -- took over from earlier motifs of the story of Little Riding Hood and bouquets of flowers influenced by the Dutch, who colonized Indonesia for 350 years.

Since 1998, Tirta reinterpreted hokokai batik and reintroduced the elements of its design to the public, including to Japanese batik lovers.

The batik was named after Jawa Hokokai, a propaganda organization set up by the Japanese military to get support from Indonesians in Japan's war efforts.

The motifs and designs were adapted from kimono to make one of the most expensive batiks available between 1942 and 1945.

Indonesian members of Jawa Hokokai, who contributed major support to the Japanese military, were awarded hokokai batik ordered from batik makers in Pekalongan, a town on the northern coast of Central Java famous for its bright, colorful motifs.

But Japan only occupied Indonesia for three years and hokokai batik disappeared soon after.

Although it was created during the Japanese occupation, one of the bitterest periods in Indonesian history, no bitterness is seen in hokokai batik.

Its bright colors and motifs represent happiness and even Tirta, who had been doing deep research into batik, told Kyodo News in an interview last year that he was unable to answer why hokokai batik failed to reflect the dark tenor of the times.