Kaimurasaki (English name) Imperial purple

Japanese: 貝紫 - かいむらさき（英語表記）Imperial purple

A purple dye extracted from shellfish of the family Muricidae in the class Gastropoda of the phylum Mollusca. In Phoenicia on the Mediterranean coast in the 10th century BC, a dyeing technique was developed using the colorless secretion from the subbranchial glands of the Syrian mullet Bolinus brandaris (purple dye murex) and the Turk mullet Hexaplex trunculus (trunculus murex), which turns purple when exposed to sunlight. Only a small amount of this dye was obtained from each shellfish, and 17,000 were used for one piece of clothing fabric, or 2,000 for 1 gram of dye. Because it was so expensive, only emperors and popes could wear clothes dyed with shellfish purple, and therefore it was called imperial purple. It was also called Tyrian purple because it was exported from the port of Tyre. Separately, similar dyeing techniques with shellfish purple were developed in Mexico, Peru, and other countries, and are still used in Mexico today. In Mexico, the saliciforme is used, and in Peru, the false abalone. In Japan, the female divers of Shima are said to dye hand towels with the purple shellfish of the lychee and rock shell. In other words, if the shellfish is from the Muricidae family, the purple shellfish can be extracted from the secretions of the subbranchial gland. The component of the purple shellfish is dibromoindigo C ₁₆ H ₈ Br ₂ N ₂ O _2. Sea hares and staghorn shells also secrete purple liquid, but it cannot be used as a dye.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

軟体動物門腹足綱アクキガイ科の貝類より採取した紫色の染料。紀元前 10世紀地中海沿岸のフェニキアでは，シリアツブリボラ Bolinus brandaris(purple dye murex)やツロツブリボラHexaplex trunculus(trunculus murex)の鰓下腺から得られる無色の分泌液に日光をあてると紫に発色することから，これを染色に用いる技術が開発された。1つの貝からは少量しかとれず，洋服地1着分に1万 7000個，1gの染料に 2000個が使われた。このため非常に高価で帝王や法王のみが貝紫で染めた衣服を着用できたので，帝王紫 Imperial purpleの名がある。また，これをツロ (テュロス) 港から輸出したことから，ツロ紫 Tyrian purpleの名もある。これとは別にメキシコ，ペルーなどでも同様に貝紫で染色する技術が開発され，メキシコでは現在もそれが引継がれている。メキシコではサラレイシ，ペルーではアワビモドキを使用。日本でも志摩の海女がレイシやイボニシの貝紫で手拭を染めたという。要するにアクキガイ科の種類であれば，鰓下腺の分泌液から貝紫をとることができる。貝紫の成分はジブロムインジゴ C₁₆H₈Br₂N₂O₂ である。アメフラシやイトカケガイも紫色の液を分泌するが染料にはならない。

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