The history of indigo dye is deep and colorful. There are sayings of how mummies were wrapped with indigo cloth in ancient Egyptian era.  Indigo was told to exist in Japan as far back as the 5th century.  Numerous indigo products were discovered in the treasure vaults of Horyuji and Syosoin temples.  There is documentation of many samurai who wore clothes woven from indigo threads during the War Age. The color of indigo was known as the color of “Kachi” (brown, indigo’s liquid color). “Kachi” is also the word for “Win” in Japanese and thus, samurai must have entrusted superstitious belief in the color.  

In the ancient period, the color of blue could only be achieved with indigo. Since it was very valuable and rare, only persons of the privileged classes could don it.  Over time, indigo clothes were more commonly used from the Edo period.  Cotton and indigo dye matched well together and indigo dyed material became a part of Japanese life as people believed it turned more durable through repeated dyeing. There was a saying such as “Insects hate clothes dyed with indigo.” People dyed many items such as farming clothes, hand towels, undershirts, floor cushion, and shop curtain. Famous “Ukiyoe” (trans. floating world paintings) artists like Hokusai and Hiroshige used indigo pigment and expressed that era eloquently. The blue referred to as “Hiroshige Blue” attracted worldwide praise.

The indigo dye was widely popular and deeply rooted into people’s lives, but lost popularity rapidly after the influx of chemical dye around the late Meiji period.  It is hard to imagine that people grew cotton and indigo by themselves in their farmlands only 100 years ago, but Japan was undoubtedly a country rich in the blue of “Ai.”