The 2023 New Year's Eve has passed.
This is Sakemaru.
The "mang" in Mangshu refers to grains such as wheat.
This time of year means "the time to sow grain seeds."
At our vegetable garden, "Shinmei Farm (IOGF)",
The harvest of summer vegetables is starting.
Large amounts of eggplant, peppers, turnips, carrots, etc.
We plan to harvest leafy vegetables such as coriander, basil, and molokheiya soon.
I'm looking forward to it!
This wonderful farm is located in Tateyama City, in the southernmost part of Chiba Prefecture.
It's a nice area surrounded by the sea on three sides.
This is my third year since moving back to my hometown.
As Dry Bones,
In order to start "manufacturing" here in Tateyama,
There's been a lot going on since I first moved here.
The "Boshu Uchiwa" that I introduced in my last blog post is
They came together to make this a local traditional craft.
And what I'd like to introduce to you today is a handmade bag!
The man named Kokin-san is
He is a dyeing artist with a studio in Tateyama.
I mainly make hand-made clothing accessories such as bags.
I had several meetings with Kokon-san.
I made samples many times and went to check the accessories...
Here is the finished bag!
Newspaper bag!
The white canvas gives it a simple and sturdy feel!
There has been a request from the staff for a long time.
This bag has finally come true!
First, the details.
Top lid open.
Although inspired by vintage newspaper bags...
Quite apart from vintage,
Pursuing ease of use.
Side view.
There are large pockets on both sides of the bag.
As it is a shoulder bag,
I think there is a need for both right-handed and left-handed people...
Two pockets, perfect for anyone.
A 600ml plastic bottle fits in easily.
Twist lock to secure the top lid.
This part was actually the most difficult.
First of all, you won't find it if you take the clothing store route.
Also, on the route of Kokin-san, who is strong in bags…
All that comes up are delicate, feminine images.
I was looking for something sturdy like the prewar and wartime styles...
I'm sorry for the trouble.
What's more, the claws on the back are hand-bent.
It's extremely difficult!
I can see that the parts themselves are becoming an endangered species (sweats)
This part was also a difficult one.
In industry jargon, this metal fitting is called "koki."
I wonder if it is commonly called a double corner ring or a separate loop?
There are gold-plated and chrome-plated ones, but...
There's almost no matte black like this.
And for newspaper bags,
Maximum width 50mm.
A heavy part that is rarely seen.
There is a pocket on the inside.
The capacity is so large that it can easily fit an A4-sized phone book (an old term).
Now, as always, I'd like to introduce the vintages that I used as reference.
First off, this is a real newspaper bag.
It's from around the 1970s.
Reflective tape is attached to prevent traffic accidents.
It looks quite spacey.
When you open the top cover,
It had the name of the newspaper on it (Portland Press Herald).
It is for distributing newspapers inside,
Wide structure.
And as mentioned earlier…
Many newspaper bags have straps that cannot be adjusted in length.
Therefore, there is no need for a hook.
This is probably
We specialize in bags for carrying heavy newspapers...
I would like the strap width to be at least 50mm.
That would limit the number of Kokis, so
I guess they prioritized the strap width.
This is the drawback of the news paper bag.
Here's another example for reference.
A tool bag from the 1940s.
Also called a carpenter bag.
It's called a "tool box."
The twist lock is located at the top of the bag.
It is designed so that a lid can be used to store tools with long handles.
This gimmick is cool.
So, newspaper bags and tool bags,
We created this product by combining the best of both worlds!
From each store staff,
I took the liberty of using the image of the item being worn.
I think it's easy to understand the size and other aspects.
In fact, this bag...
It was delivered once in February 2023.
However, reservations sold out in just one day.
We will immediately start the next additional production,
It arrived in early April...
At that time, they were sold out in one day after being put on display in the store (lol).
So this is the third delivery.
It was finally put on display in the store.
Therefore, the online shop listing is also delayed (lol).
Please wait for a while.
It may be sold out again in the meantime,
If you are in a hurry, we would appreciate it if you could call our direct store.
Until now, the bag factories
It was always a struggle to negotiate the minimum amount...
After COVID-19, the production background has changed.
Things are starting to get a little easier.
We intend to gradually expand our range of options from now on.
looking forward to.
The rainy season has begun.
This is the food I look forward to when it gets this hot!
chilled Chinese noodles!
I've loved it since I was little...
This year, I finally found a restaurant in Tateyama City that serves sesame sauce.
I think I'll go there!
see you!
