Bushu Sho-Aizome is a regional brand of Saitama Prefecture. It refers to fabrics produced in the Bushu area of Saitama Prefecture (present-day Hanyu City, Kazo City, Gyoda City, and Fukaya City, Saitama Prefecture) that are dyed with Sho-Aizome. Bushu Sho-Aizome is characterized by dyeing by fermenting dyes made from indigo leaves. There are two dyeing methods: thread dyeing, in which dyeing is done at the thread stage, and stencil dyeing, in which dyeing is done after the fabric is made.
In Bushu, 70% of the fabric is yarn-dyed. Bushu Shoran Dyeing produces beautiful natural stripes called "blue stripes" because the threads are dyed before being woven. This is a proof of the pride of our craftsmen, which is expressed only by the painstaking method of dyeing from the thread. The year 2021 is also the year of Shibusawa Eiichi, the main character in the historical drama "Seiten wo Sukeruke. Bushu Sho-Aizome is the business root of Eiichi Shibusawa. Eiichi Shibusawa helped his family's main business, trading in Fukaya's specialty indigo balls (a dye material), and from his boyhood he showed a business acumen that rivaled that of an adult.
He later made large profits, and at the same time, as the father of Japanese capitalism, he laid the foundation of Japan as we know it today. Products using Bushu Shoran Dye have different "blue stripes" on the same product, making them unique and one-of-a-kind. We recommend this product to those who want to achieve success in business and those who are looking for one-of-a-kind products.
Hanyu City, where our company handles Bushu Sho-Aizome, is located in the northeastern part of Saitama Prefecture. The population is approximately 54,000. Since the end of the Edo period (1603-1867), Bushu Sho-Aizome has been produced in the city, and it is still a town of clothing. During the Edo period, the name of the city was Saitama-gun, Musashikuni.
The Tone River flows through the northern part of the city, and although the city area is generally flat, it is characterized by a relatively high elevation of around 17 meters due to its location on the alluvial plateau in the northern part of the Kazo Lowland. In terms of location, the city borders Gunma Prefecture and is also close to Ibaraki and Tochigi Prefectures. The Tobu Isezaki Line runs through the area from north to south, and the Chichibu Railway starts at Hanyu Station and runs through Kumagaya City toward Chichibu City.
The Tohoku Expressway runs through the eastern part of the city. In the Iwase district of Hanyu City, there is Airai Town, which has a large commercial center at its core. The origin of the city name is said to be an inscription on a hanging Buddha statue at a shrine in the city, dated 1590 (Tensho 18), that reads "Ota Haniu Sho," which means that hani (clay, meaning red soil) is raw (u, meaning a lot). It is also said that the name is a pun on the word haniwa (clay figurine).
Please consider commemorative gifts using“Bushu Indigo dye”.
We accept a variety of requests,
including letterhead sets and Japanese paper accessories,
as well as items such as the souvenir example.
The road of four li was long, and in between was the town of Hanyu with its blue striped market. In between there was the town of Hanyu with its blue-striped market." This is the opening line of "The Country Teacher," a masterpiece by Hanabukuro Tayama, a great writer of the Meiji period. At the time, blue stripes (Bushu Sho-Aizome), a specialty of Bushu, was a representative local industry in Hanyu, and the indigo dyed in this way was known throughout Japan as Bushu Ai.
Aojime (Bushu Shoran Dyeing) is an indigo-dyed cotton fabric that began as a side job for farmers in the Kisai area in the late Edo period (Temmei era). The threads are dyed and then woven into cloth, which is why it is called "Ao-shimai" (blue stripes) because the uneven dyeing of the threads gives it the appearance of striped patterns.
Blue stripes (Bushu Sho-Aizome) are mainly produced in Hanyu, Kazo, and Gyoda in the northern Saitama region, and have been used for stray clothes as well as for the outer fabric of tabi (split-toed socks). With the mechanization of agriculture, demand has declined sharply, and today only a few houses continue to carry on the technique.
Please consider commemorative gifts using“Bushu Indigo dye”.
We accept a variety of requests,
including letterhead sets and Japanese paper accessories,
as well as items such as the souvenir example.