A Patched Sakabukuro: Sake Making Filter

early to mid twentieth century
28 1/2" x 8 1/2", 72.5 cm x 21.5 cm

Sakabukuro, or sake straining bags, are beautiful textiles. Made of cotton which is saturated with green persimmon tannin, or kaki shibu 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 two boldly placed patches in two different tones of brown. With the base fabric, there are three tones of kaki shibu to be seen on this simple and attractive sake filter.

This is a handsome sakabukuro with appealing mending.