Light Indigo

Light Indigo is a very distinctive plant-dyed blue in Japanese traditional colors. It originates from the juice of the Asiatic dayflower (tsuyukusa) petals. The dayflower's petals are blue but fade extremely easily; the ancients discovered that dipping paper or cloth in the petal juice could yield a temporarily vivid light blue.

Light Indigo was already used for dyeing paper in the Nara period. Precious documents written on Light Indigo paper are preserved in the Shosoin Repository. This paper dyeing method was called 'flower dyeing'; because dayflower juice could not permanently fix its color, Light Indigo paper was regarded as precious as a 'once-in-a-lifetime' encounter.

In the Heian period, Light Indigo entered the noble clothing system. Precisely because it faded easily, it was considered tasteful—just as cherry blossoms are more precious for falling easily. Noble men and women wore Light Indigo garments on specific occasions, expressing a cherishing of fleeting beauty and an appreciation for the beauty of impermanence.

Edo period Ukiyo-e artists used Light Indigo to depict dawn skies and early spring streams. In Harunobu Suzuki's prints of beautiful women, Light Indigo was used to paint the background of a beauty combing her hair by the window in the morning, creating a wonderful contrast between the pale blue and the beauty's red lips.

After the invention of modern synthetic dyes, a non-fading Light Indigo became widely available. Today, Light Indigo symbolizes a unique Japanese aesthetic preference for 'transience' and 'freshness.' Its slightly cool, vivid light blue, like a morning dew-kissed dayflower, is a microcosm of a Japanese summer morning.