AWAJI indigo LAND project

Japanese traditional color "Indigo" -JAPAN BLUE - Experience indigo dyeing with live dye "Onokoro Ai" made with organic fertilizers without pesticides on Awajishima

"Onokoro Ai" is a "living dye" made from Tateai, a raw material, without using pesticides or chemical fertilizers in Awajishima's vibrant soil, and is made with indigo production that can be added to the natural circulation as much as possible.

Using only raw materials obtained from the natural world, such as spring water, wood ash, and fusuma from Awaji, dyeing liquid is completed with the help of fermentation of microorganisms. This natural dyeing not only gives us comfort and gently protects us wearing it, but also has an earth-friendly sustainableity.

The pigment created by natural fermentation by the power of microorganisms is highly robust and produces a very beautiful coloration. In addition, it strengthens the cloth and protects the body from antibacterial effects and ultraviolet rays, and firmly draws out the essential elements of indigo dyeing.

In the experience, you can visit Aihata on the premises and explain the process of dyeing from sowing to dye making, and you can see indigo dyeing using traditional fermented dyes that are carefully dyed with indigo.

How about a trip to feel the indigo of natural dyes using raw materials grown in Awajishima, a rich climate, which is different from chemical dyes, and the terroir that flutters in the deep blue unique to it?

STEP01 – Select the desired pattern from the pattern sample and pattern using specialized tools.
STEP02 – Soak in dye liquid to dye indigo. You can dye it many times to finish it in your favorite color.
STEP03 – Finished with water.

You can take home the finished work.

Indigo has been popular not only as a dye but also as a medicinal plant since ancient times, and it is said that it has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidant, deodorizing, and so on. Indigo is also an organic product. Due to these characteristics, there are many products in collaboration with foods such as chocolate, bread, herbal salt and chai, such as soap and room spray, which can be expected to have medicinal effects using indigo.

About living dyes and circulation

<Plant making>
We use organic resources such as crepe cass, bamboo chips, and waste bacteria floors to make soil in the field.
The roots are firmly rooted in the rich soil, and indigo grows when it grows.

<Making indigo dye solution>
Only the leaves of the indigo grass are sorted and dried, and during the winter, watering and turning dozens of times are repeated for about 100 days. It becomes a dye called sukumo.

Mix the completed juice (aku made of wood ash, such as vine, oak, and oak) from the finished seaweed, and ferment it. By reducing action by fermentation, indigo dyes that do not dissolve in water are melted out, and indigo dyeing is possible.

It's called "Dyeing"

<Maintenance of indigo dye solution>
In order for the action of microorganisms to determine the appearance of the indigo color, we use "fusuma" and "shell ash" to create an environment that is easy to operate and maintain.
The outer skin, fusuma, which is formed when milling wheat, is a bran called rice. Minerals such as dietary fiber, calcium, iron, magnesium, and zinc serve as food for microorganisms and promote fermentation.

Shell ash made by baking shells is used to adjust the condition when fermentation progresses, and the indigo dye solution is calmed down.

About the AWAJI Ai Land Project

From the raw material of "Onokoro indigo", we produce dyes called "Onokoro indigo", and live dyeing with the power of microorganisms. This is a project that aims to become a local industry through activities rooted in the community with the theme of dyeing and manufacturing, various experiences, and exploring the possibilities of food indigo, spun from indigo.

In the 2021 NHK Taiga drama "Buke the Blue Sky", I participated as a directing and guidance of scenes related to indigo.
I was excited about the history of indigo that the color of indigo was fascinated by the painting of the dyed cloth fluttering, and the color of indigo during the Edo period.

We hope that you will sympathize with the nature cycles and activities that reflect people and thoughts that we value, and that we can add a rich color to your life with a bright blue color like an earth like the sea. You.