A Beautifully Old Sakabukuro: Sake Straining Accessory

late nineteenth, early twentieth century
30 3/4" x 9", 78 cm x 23 cm

Sakabukuro, or sake straining bags, are beautiful boro textiles. Made of cotton which is saturated with green persimmon tannin, or kaki shibu--which gives the distinctive brown color--this utilitarian textile was used in sake making.

Crude sake, or sake lees, was placed in this bag and pressure was applied to squeeze out and filter the liquid. Repeated use required repeated mending and we see the wonderful stitches applied for this purpose.  

This is a nice example of a sakabukuro and it shows beautiful mending in the form of a strong stitches done in thick thread. This bag shows two stitched, vertically oriented seams which seal the bag. More modern bags are woven in the round with no such seams.

Please note the horizontal tear to the back, top of the sakabukuro.

This is a handsome sakabukuro with very attractive, complex mending.