AiAii Indigo Dye Workshop & Original Goods — Attraction in Sumoto

The Indigo dying workshop at AiAii was voted the highlight of my family’s trip to Japan. It’s hard to find something all four of my children (ages 12-20–one with special needs) will enjoy as well as my husband and I but this nailed it. All six of us came away smiling.

Sally’s passion for her craft is evident in all she does. She is extremely knowledgeable, creative, passionate and patient. She’s not just try to crank us through with a set activity but completely tailored the workshop to us, working with us to understand our ideas and help us achieve them.

Sally can conduct the workshop in English or Japanese. After a hiccup with our rental car, we took a bus directly from Kobe which was easy as it was just a short walk to the studio from the bus stop. Sally has items you can buy from her to dye or you can bring your own. We brought with us a shirt, two pillowcases, and a set of white linen napkins that we will use at every dinner time, reminding us of this wonderful experience!

You won’t regret booking...

I reached out to the owners via email, about wanting to do some indigo dyeing at the beginning of the new year. Unlike other indigo dyeing workshops, where you were only allowed to choose a specific pattern, I was able to make a gradient indigo scarf. Not only did I learn about the tremendous labour that goes into growing, harvesting and fermenting the indigo plant, I was able to make a scarf that I could bring home and wear out in public. Sure my back hurt a little from all the dipping, but it was a lot of fun (felt like a kid again), and being able to design and make something you can wear for years to come definitely carries a lot more sentimental value than any fast fashion scarf. It’s also a nice memento of my time in Japan. All in all, a fun day...

Three friends and I had an indigo dyeing workshop at AiAii in Sumoto and it was amazing! In the cute little workshop, Sally, the knowledgeable owner, introduced us to the process of dying naturally with Indigo and was a great workshop leader. She presented a variety of possibilities of patterns to us but was open and supportive to our ideas as well. In general, she had great energy and made the whole workshop fun. The tiny shop that's attached to the workshop offers her own designs from clothing to jewellery - really beautiful work.

Thank you Sally for an amazing experience and a fun afternoon. Definitely a highlight of our Japan trip!! 10/10 - highly...