Translator Reviews ( Japanese → Native English )

Additional info: 日本を紹介する文です。

Japanese

藍染め

藍染めとは
植物の藍を染料として用いた染物。ネイビーブルーやインディゴブルーに染まる。

色が褪せにくいという優れた特徴を持つ。奈良時からの歴史があり、海外では「Japan Blue」と呼ばれ、藍色を指して「Hirosige Blue」（浮世絵師の歌川広重の絵に見られる青）と呼ばれることもある。江戸時代から四国の徳島県で盛んに行われ、現在でも徳島県の藍染めは全国的に有名だ。染め方による色が豊富で「藍48色」といわれるほどである。また、抗菌性や止血作用、防虫作用もある。

English

Aizome

Aizome is a blue dye that is made from plants. It imparts a navy blue or indigo colour.

It has the advantage of being fade-resistant. It has a long history, beginning in the Nara period. Abroad, it has been called 'Japan Blue' or 'Hiroshige Blue', (referring to blue often seen in the Ukiyo-e artist Hiroshige Utagawa's woodblock prints). It has been used extensively in Tokushima prefecture in Shikoku, and the region is famous across Japan for its Aizome even today. The rich variety of shades which can be produced through different dyeing techniques have come to be called 'The 48 shades of blue', and it is also been used as an anti-bacterial agent, to stop bleeding, and to repel insects.