Indigo dyeing has a long history, which is believed to stretch back to four thousand years B.C.. In Japan, it is thought that the indigo dyeing method was being used in the Nara Period (710-794 A.D.) due to the fact that indigo dyed cloth is stored in the Horyuji temple and the Shosoin Repository of the Todaiji temple in Nara. Although the technique has been in decline as a result of the development of technology and synthetic dyes, up until today, indigo-dyed cloths have been colouringvarious aspects of daily living beautifully in the form of working clothes, Kimono, Noren curtains, Futon, Tenugui towels, and so on.

Making indigo colorant is described as ‘building indigo’. The traditional Japanese building method of indigo is: preparing ‘Sukumo’ (a compost of knotweed indigo leaves fermented for four months afterharvesting) with froth in an earthen pot which is buried under the ground, and adding Sake or wheat bran for microbes to help fermentation. When the colourant is ready, beautiful indigo-coloured foam called ‘Ai no Hana (flower of indigo)’ will rise to the surface of the pot. The dyer thus looks after the indigo pot with great care and love, monitoring the complexion and condition.

Hiroyuki Shindo has been enthralled by indigo, starting to study the methodology of ‘building indigo’ when he was a student.As a dyer artist, he has been developing his creative career for over fifty years, and established ‘The Little Indigo Museum’ in a spacious old house with a thatched roof in Miyama in Kyoto, where we can still see an idyllic woodland landscape. In the workshop gallery on the ground floor of the Museum, we are able to see works and working process with a unique dyeing technique. In the exhibition hall on the first floor, we are able to explore precious works of indigo dyeing from all over the world. The freshly-dyed vivid clear blue, the soft, deep blue of aged indigo… Here, we are able to enjoy various expressions of the colour of indigo in a space where time passes slowly and quietly.Mr Shindo says that it is perhaps his given mission to protect and develop the indigo dyeing culture,which has been loved by all ages and countries, and introduce it widely, starting from this place of beautiful water and a rich natural environment.