1.
indigo plant; Japanese indigo
A plant (Persicaria tinctoria) from which indigo dye is extracted. Cultivated in Japan for centuries for textile dyeing.
藍を育てる。
To grow indigo plants.
徳島は藍の産地として知られている。
Tokushima is known as an indigo-producing region.
祖母が藍の葉を使って染料を作るのを見たことがある。
I once watched my grandmother make dye from indigo leaves.
2.
indigo; indigo blue
The deep blue color or dye produced from the indigo plant. One of the most important traditional dye colors in Japan.
藍で染めた布。
Cloth dyed with indigo.
藍染めの浴衣を買った。
I bought an indigo-dyed yukata.
深い藍の色は「ジャパン・ブルー」と呼ばれ、海外でも人気がある。
The deep indigo color is called 'Japan Blue' and is popular overseas as well.
One of the most culturally significant colors in Japan. The indigo plant (蓼藍) has been cultivated in Japan for over a thousand years, and indigo dyeing (藍染め) remains an important traditional craft.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 藍染め: indigo dyeing
- 藍色: indigo color
- 藍を建てる: to prepare an indigo dye vat (technical term)
- 藍の葉: indigo leaves
PROVERB:
青は藍より出でて藍より青し — "Blue comes from indigo yet is bluer than indigo." Meaning: the student surpasses the master. One of the most well-known Japanese proverbs.
CULTURAL CONTEXT:
徳島県 (Tokushima Prefecture) has been the center of indigo production in Japan since the Edo period. The deep blue of indigo-dyed textiles was so characteristic of Japan that visiting Westerners in the Meiji era coined the term "Japan Blue." Today, 藍染め workshops are popular tourist experiences.
RELATED TERMS:
- 紺: dark blue, navy — a darker shade than 藍
- 青: blue — the general word for blue; 藍 is a specific shade