Mingei Iyokasuri Kaikan (民芸伊予かすり会館)

Iyo-kasuri traces to Kanaya Kana (1782-1864), a weaver from Imade village, now part of Matsuyama in Ehime Prefecture. Around 1801-1804, during the roof rethatching of her house, she is said to have noticed a mottled pattern where straw bound tightly to the roof frame stayed pale while the exposed straw weathered darker in the sun, and adapted the effect into a dyed-thread weaving technique using pre-dyed warp and weft yarns to form patterns as the cloth is woven.

The craft, known first as Imade-gasuri and later nationally as Iyo-gasuri, grew into one of Japan's largest textile industries; by 1904 it accounted for roughly 26.5 percent of the country's total kasuri production, the largest share of any region. Production has since contracted sharply from that peak, but hand-weaving of the indigo ikat continues on a small scale in Matsuyama.

Art Labo Kasuri, also known as Mingei Iyo-kasuri Kaikan, opened in Matsuyama in 1973 to preserve and display the craft. It shows the full weaving process and the characteristic well-crib (igeta) and cross-shaped patterns, and lets visitors try a roughly hour-long hands-on natural indigo dyeing session to make their own handkerchief, bandana or hand towel, alongside a shop selling indigo-dyed goods, hime-daruma dolls and Ehime citrus jellies.