AIZOME / JAPANESE INDIGO DYEING
About 1,400 years ago / 600s / Asuka–Nara Period
Indigo dyeing reached Japan from continental Asia in ancient times, and Japanese makers developed fermentation vats based on sukumo made from polygonum indigo. With the spread of cotton in the Edo period, indigo became ubiquitous in workwear, shop curtains, towels and everyday clothing—so visible that foreign observers later spoke of “Japan blue.”
In Japan, indigo remains associated with happi coats, kendo uniforms, noren and practical textiles. Today natural fermentation dyeing has found new audiences in denim, fashion and interiors, where deep color and graceful fading are highly valued.
The dye vat itself does not look blue. Cloth often emerges yellow-green and only turns blue as oxygen in the air oxidizes the colorant. The maker is not simply dipping fabric into a blue liquid; the blue is repeatedly created outside the vat through a controlled chemical reaction.