【Chogen no Sato Village】 Let’s enjoy indigo dyeing!【Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan】

 Let’s enjoy indigo dyeing.

Chogen no Sato Village is a park with various interactive facilities in Yamaguchi City in Yamaguchi Prefecture in Japan. The park is named for Buddhist priest Chogen (1121 – 1206) who worked around the mountains of Tokuji ,in which tha park is .He searched large trees under the orders of the Imperial Court to rebuild Todaiji Temple in Nara prefecture, which was destroyed by fire at the end of the Heian period. In Tokuji, there are many historical sites such as the remains of cutting and transporting large trees, stone baths (saunas) made by Chogen for the health of people engaged in logging, temples, shrines, and Buddha statues. The park is about 5 minutes by car from the downtown of Tokuji. It is located in the mountains, and it is quite cool in summer.

Source: Chogen no Sato village

 

In the summer, there is gadflies, so it would be nice to have bug repellent spray. When you park your car in the parking lot, you will purchase an admission ticket at the welcome hall in front of the parking lot. It is 520 yen for adults, free for preschoolers, and 310 yen for elementary and junior high school students.

Take the bus waiting in front of the welcome hall and go to the center of the park. Bus fare is free. You will go up the mountain for about 5 minutes by bus. This bus is retro and quite cute, so please take a picture with children.

The bus stops in front of a facility called Tokujiroman, where you can make soba noodles. “Fureai Workshop” is a 1-minute walk from there. You will see a thatched house. A workshop and a shop are in the house. Cute indigo-dyed products are  arranged.

You can enjoy some kinds of indigo dyeing such as a handkerchief, a tea mat, place mat, scarf, T-shirt and so on. My  5 year-old-daughter  decided to make a handkerchief that looked easy. It takes about an hour to make it. The prices are as follows: Please check the HP for the latest information.   

Source: Fureai workshop

First of all, a staff will teach you how to make a pattern. The part where indigo dyeing liquid does not soak becomes white. Use rubber bands, marbles, and film cases to bind and tie them tightly.

The film case was easy to make pattern for my 5-year-old daughter.

You will  dye the handkerchief in a plastic bucket . Please wear clothes that can get dirty because you get dyes on your cloth.   

After dyeing, remove the film case and rubber. It was a little difficult because we put on a lot of film cases.

Finally, wash with a lot of water. Change the water several times and wash thoroughly.

Dry it with a fan and it is complete. It takes an hour to dry it.
 

Basic information

Map