A Hemp Fiber Tsunobukuro or Horn Bag: Rice Storage

early twentieth century
62" x 15 1/2", 157.5 cm x 39.25 cm

This is a tsunobukuro, or "horn bag," so called because of its unique appearance: this bag is fashioned from one length of cloth hand sewn on the bias, an ingenious way to achieve zero waste.

The result of this construction are two "horns" which appear at the top of the bag.

Tsunobukuro were made for storage and hauling. Grains, beans or rice were often the items which were stored in these bias-constructed bags.

This particular tsunobukuro is hand stitched from hand plied woven hemp cloth and is marked by three hand written kanji or Chinese characters, the middle one meaning "rice" so we can assume that this tsunobukuro contained a haul of rice.

For the serious collector of  old Japanese of rural cloth and utilitarian, functional fabrics, this bag is a welcome addition to your collection both for its fine condition, its generous size, its wonderful material and its type. 

There are a few small holes here and there, the type of which is illustrated on the last detail image on this post.

A beautifully simple tsunobukuro.

Recommended.