Kinuya Indigo
AWA AI(Indigo) exquisite natural color is applauded as“JAPAN BLUE.”From the mid－Edo
ere to even today，Awa(Old Name of Tokushima Prefecture)plays a role in producing the Ai（Japanese indigo）．Ai-zome（indigo dyeing）was introduced to Japan in the 5th century.The Awa feudal clan（cunrrent Tokushima Prefecture）began its production in the Edo era．Since then，it has been producing Sukumo(Indigo leaves fermented into dye)，”the main material of ai，to provide Ai-zome dye houses，or KOUYA (Indigo dyeing workshop)across Japan with the Sukumo.
The current，or the tradition，flows even today．Ai is called AWA-AI as Tokushima
prefecture is considered the source of ai for it plays a main role in producing the Japanese
ai．Natural leathers are dyed by “Natural lye fermented”method，a dyeing technique
using natural materials．With this technique，each piece of leather is immersed into the dye
many times and it is carefully dyed by artisans．Leather texture is blended with natralu dye，
producing a beautiful natural color.
Flow of indigo dye
1 Indigo species：Indigo species by selecting the of March Daan day will be sown in nursery
2 Indigo field：The grown Ai leaf twice in July and August, do the mowing
3 Drying：The clippings leaves, (no indigo powder) sun in was thoroughly dried after it has been sorted into indigo leaves and stems are subjected to cutting machine and save
4 Crosscut：Autumn, the Ai leaf which had been saved was put in a “bed”, also repeated many times to mix hit the water in February the (crosscut) mid Ai leaf
5 Fermentation：I called the indigo dye “Sukumo” what was allowed to slowly fermented by indigo nurses
6 Shipment：Finished Awa indigo, it is placed in a special bag called down the signs of trade name of Ai nurses “kamasu”, will be shipped to Japan
The AWA AI products are put into a bottle of ai,fermented by adding wheat and residue of wood ash ,and dyed by a dyeing technique called“Tennen‐Aku‐Hakko‐Datte.”
Genuine leather before dyeing and after dyeing
From indigo sowing to Mowing
Indigo sowing
indigo seed
Seedling raising
indigo seedling
plant
