Tokushima prefecture, located on the island of Shikoku, has seen over 800 years of farming, fermenting & dyeing with natural indigo. The Yoshino River basin established fertile soil that has produced indigo celebrated for its quality since the 10th century.

Kenta Watanabe carries that rich cultural tradition forward in its purest form - farming organically with no pesticides, drying the leaves, composting and fermenting them for over three months to cultivate this defining ingredient of the dye process. The fermented leaves are then mixed with wood ash, shell lime powder and wheat bran to establish the vat that will continue to evolve over two weeks before maturing enough for dyeing. This practice would have been the standard up until the introduction of synthetic dyes and imported alternatives, which reduced natural indigo from a widespread crop down to a specialty craft since the end of the 1800’s.

His words in the short film (found in our notes post) certainly illuminate more than I will try here - so I suppose what’s left to point out is that no matter how many times you’ve heard the word indigo, witnessing the dye process firsthand should leave you in awe. When it takes place in front of your eyes, it is truly radical that naturally occurring ingredients could create this living caldron - which causes yarns and fabrics to exit the vat yellow, then green, then blue within less than a minute. Even the most jaded clothing aficionado should find it difficult to ignore the beauty in this ancient magic.

For more images, video, & thoughts on indigo dying, visit our notes post.