A Very Good Patched Sakabukuro: Sake Filter

ca. early to mid  twentieth century
30" x 9 1/2", 76 cm x 24 cm

Sakabukuro, or sake straining bags are made of cotton and are saturated with green persimmon tannin, or kaki shibu, which gives the bag's cotton cloth a distinctive brown color.  This beautifully worn and mended utilitarian textile was used in the sake making process.

Crude sake, or sake lees, was placed in this bag and pressure was applied to squeeze out the filtered liquid. Repeated use required repeated mendings and we see here the wonderfully odd stitches applied for this purpose. 

This wonderful bag shows fantastic mending in the form of thick, white cotton stitches as well as patches of darkened, kaki shibu dyed cotton cloth.   In recent years very good sakabukuro, like this one, have become more and more difficult to find, in large part due to their attractiveness and the fact that they have become a popular, collectible item.

A really wonderful sakabukuro.