Japanese Indigo Dye--Indigo Blue Is Bluer than Indigo

“Indigo blue is bluer than indigo” is a Japanese saying meaning that education and unstinting efforts are very important for one’s success, making an analogy to a long, difficult process involved to create indigo blue dye from indigo plants.

Mr. Murata is the third generation owner of a dye factory and also the founder of Kosoen Studio specialized in traditional indigo dyeing. While the color Indigo blue and even similar color shadings can be easily and cost-efficiently obtained with synthetic dye, Kosoen Studio chooses to adhere to a traditional, rather complicated method to express the hidden colors of indigo plants, which Murata explains as “the ultimate ecological way.”

This is the entrance of Studio Kosoen. Ome has flourished once through textile production. Yet Studio Kosoen is one of a few companies left in the area, which still runs businesses in textile industry.



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