A Nicely Stitched Sakabukuro: Sake Making Filter

ca. mid twentieth century
29" x 9", 73.5 cm x 23 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, cotton stitches which are spare and beautifully placed on the front, back and sides of the bag.   In recent years very good sakabukuro, 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.

Please note the short, vertical tear to the center, top of one side of the sakabukuro.