Traditional craftsmanship, the world of artisans who work with indigo

This is an incident that began in July 2022.
Come to think of it, it's only been a year since I started using Shinshu deer leather.
In the middle of crowdfunding...

What can be done to further expand the potential of this deerskin?

The reason is that as we are working under the slogan "Shinshu Ethical Project", we want to sustain the cycle, including industry, within Nagano Prefecture!
To that end, I thought that what I could do was to expand the possibilities of deerskin and draw attention to it.

The animals are exterminated, their skins are tanned into leather, and then we turn them into products and sell them - that's the end of the process! That's the role of Groover Leather!
In that case, efforts will be required to add value, attract attention, and promote sales.
As I was thinking that, suddenly
"I wonder if I can do indigo dyeing?" I thought to myself, and without consulting anyone, I researched it. After looking at various things, I found this one that really caught my eye:

Hamazome Studio in Matsumoto City

I did some research and came across this site right away, but as part of the Shinshu Ethical Project, I was wondering if there are any places in Nagano prefecture that do indigo dyeing?
I often hear about places that are run as a hobby, but I wanted a place that was reliable, so I searched a few places and found Hamazome Kobo, which has an incredible history .
I suddenly decided to do some research and was drawn to the idea, so I emailed them to make an appointment and spoke with the company's president, Kanji Hama, on the phone.

"The other day I was watching TV and I saw myself on it, and I thought to myself, "I want to meet this person!" Then I got a call from Tokunaga-san, so I was surprised."
I was told, "Is that even possible???"
I thought to myself , "This is fate!"

Apparently, Hama had once been asked by a neighbor to dye deerskin indigo, but it didn't go well, and after that he had no idea how to turn the leather into a product, and many years passed without knowing how to get leather . Then, by chance, he happened to see me on NHK. It was truly fate!!

I went to meet Hama-san right away!

This is the first deerskin I dyed!
Apparently it was dyed many years ago, and it was difficult to dye, so it had to be soaked in indigo dozens of times.
The leather was thick like Ezo deer, so I could tell from the leather that it had expanded and become heavy after soaking it several times (^_^;)

It seems that he wanted to dye deerskin and turn it into a product.

Hama-san: After many years of giving up and thinking "this is no good," I saw myself on TV!

When I was shown this leather, I was convinced, "It will dye!"

I decided to have the leather I brought dyed!

We decided to try it out straight away using a vase that we use in our workshops, and when we quickly took out the cloth and placed it in the vase, it instantly turned light blue!
The indigo in the jar looks brownish, but when you put it in the indigo liquid and then pull it out, it looks like the color changes due to oxidation!
It seems like it is soaked once, oxidized, rinsed off, soaked again and the oxidation process is repeated.

First, please try a scrap of it rather than trying it on one piece to see how it will look.

The light blue looking scraps are chrome tanned, while the light brown ones are tanned with vegetable tanning agents.

Although he had just pulled it up, Hama-san looked at the chrome leather and said, "It feels like it's dyed!"

At this point I'm still not sure how much of it has been dyed, but the color has definitely changed (^^;;

↑This is tanned with tannin, but to be honest if you look closely there are some blueish areas?
About

↑This is chrome tanned and it is definitely dyed!?
But because it's wet? No, it's stained!

But it is true that the deerskin I dyed years ago still stained!
I was so confident that it would definitely stain!

However, I was worried because the leather I had dyed many years ago would not dye at all and I had to soak it dozens of times ^^;
I knew it would be expensive, but I was also worried that if I dyed it multiple times, it would end up being too expensive to even consider! (･_･;

This is the moment we first stepped into the world of indigo, and it marks an important first step for us!
On this day, we handed over several pieces of deerskin base material that the customer had brought with him, had them tested, asked them to dye it, and then left.

I know I'm repeating myself, but Hama-san was grateful that I had asked him about it. Apparently, he had once tried to dye deerskin but it didn't turn out well, and he had been thinking in the back of his mind for many years, " I wonder if there is anyone who can turn dyed deerskin into products?"
I saw it on TV and immediately got a phone call!!
It's total fate!! It's something like that!!

It's a sobering feeling, isn't it!
I couldn't say something irresponsible like "Leave it to me!", but I left with the feeling that I'd do my best.

I will continue with the topic of indigo dyeing, so please join me next time🙇
Thank you very much for reading to the end.