210122-0042-OS - Indigo Production

Woodblock print of indigo production in Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku.

As increased cotton cultivation gave rise to a large textile industry, indigo became extremely important in Japan during the Edo period (1600-1868).

Original title: Indigo production in Awa Province (阿波國藍玉製之図 二) from the series Products of Greater Japan (大日本物産圖會, Dai Nippon Bussan Zue) by Utagawa Hiroshige III (三代目 歌川広重, 1842?-1894). Published in Tokyo by Okura Magobei (大倉孫兵衛) in 1877 (Meiji 10).

The series was published just before the opening of the First National Industrial Exposition (第1回内国勧業博覧会) in Tokyo’s Ueno Park on August 21, 1877.