Artisanal Natural Indigo Dyeing in Japan

[Joe E Taleo]

http://www.slate.com/id/2209693/entry/2209723/

This article talks about a visit to the Kosoen dye works, why they chose to dye with natural indigo, and also the kind of unbelievable cost of dyeing in this old way.

Here is a quote from the article about why they dye in this way, despite the fantastic cost: "Why take the risk? Hiroshi's answer is that this work is okufukai—it presents a profound, almost existential challenge."

This is a job I want to do. If you go through the photo gallery, the guy's fingernails are dyed an unbelievable shade of blue.

[lance]

Great article, thanks for posting it.

[lenn]

Cool, i love seeing stuff like that. Which reminds me, can someone proxy me some indigo plant seeds? I asked a florist (a good one, too) and he couldn't help me out

[Bigyen]

Fantastic. I also really like the link in the article to their web page where they go over the entire process from sowing to finish. How anyone ever figured out how to extract indigo is beyond me.

[Decs]

Great Article!! I love to see artisans still doing it the hard way and taking pride in their work.

[raWorkshop]

Fantastic. I also really like the link in the article to their web page where they go over the entire process from sowing to finish. How anyone ever figured out how to extract indigo is beyond me.

Yeah incase anyone missed it, this is great http://www.kosoen.com/aizome.html

Edit: does anybody have a barn in Vermont or North Carolina that they'd like to donate to make a indigo tincture co-op? I'm about to graduate and shit looks slim, I'd rather live on ramen and indigo then get a job.

[Superstar]

Cool, i love seeing stuff like that. Which reminds me, can someone proxy me some indigo plant seeds? I asked a florist (a good one, too) and he couldn't help me out

Dunno anything about the quality, and these are not japanese indigo families, but here:

http://www.alchemy-works.com/indigofera_tinctoria.html

http://www.sandmountainherbs.com/indigo.html

I believe one of the most common japanese indigo plants is named Ryukyu indigo, couldnt find anything on that with a google search..