Yawara-momen is a striped cotton fabric dyed with genuine indigo (shōai), traditionally worn as work clothes. Originally produced as plain indigo-dyed cloth, it was revived into kimono fabric through the efforts of the Kitajima Indigo Research Institute, which reinterpreted traditional Aitozan stripes with a modern sensibility. In this region, cotton cultivation thrived, and farmers would spin yarn from their own cotton and bring it to local dyers. By the late Edo period, it was said that nearly one in every 150 households operated an indigo dyeing workshop. As rural lifestyles shifted, the tradition declined almost to extinction. However, the Kitajima Institute preserved around 100 indigo vats and opened them to indigo dyeing enthusiasts, thereby reviving Yawara-momen as both a craft and cultural heritage.