Indigo Dye Workshop with Local Food Pairing

The Indigo Dye Workshop with Local Food Pairing is hosted at Ai no Yakata, the indigo museum and dyeing studio in Yamakawa-cho, Yoshinogawa, an area long associated with Tokushima's traditional aizome, or indigo dyeing, craft. The museum has run dyeing demonstrations and hands-on workshops for visitors for many years, pairing a traditional shibori dyeing session with a food component drawn from regional home cooking. A typical session runs about three hours, split between the dyeing workshop, where visitors fold, bind, and dip a cotton item such as a handkerchief or tote bag in an indigo vat, and a seated tasting of regional dishes, generally two to three savoury items such as pickled vegetables, simmered tofu, or a rice dish, with the balance weighted toward savoury home cooking rather than sweets. The workshop fee typically covers the dyeing materials, the finished cloth item, and the food tasting; drinks beyond tea are usually extra. Groups are kept to a manageable size for the dyeing vats, generally under fifteen participants, and instructions are given primarily in Japanese, though staff can often demonstrate steps visually for non-Japanese speakers. The pace is unhurried and hands-on, with indigo staining possible on skin and clothing, so older or washable clothing is recommended.