160905-0038 - Collecting Indigo Plants

Two women wearing conical sugegasa hats are working with a large basket of Japanese indigo plants, used for aizome dyeing (藍染め), ca. 1920 (Taisho 9).

The distinctive blue color of the indigo plant became symbolic for Japan. “Japan is a country filled with a mystical blue color,” wrote Irish-born author Lafcadio Hearn shortly after his arrival in Japan in 1890 (Meiji 23).

The color gradually faded from common use after the importation of synthetic indigo technology in 1880.

Subsequently, there was a dramatic drop in domestic production of dyer’s knotweed (Polygonum tinctorum, which provides the raw dye for indigo). The plant nearly disappeared during the 1970s.