Hand Bag with Stitched Hexagonal Pattern

Bamboo hand bags are popular accessory for kimono and yukata fashion.

But the basic hexagonal pattern is not. 

Probably it's not fashionable...

So, for hand bags, stitched hexagonal (sashi-mutsume) and decorative hexagonal (hana-mutsume) are used instead.

Stitched hexagonal has a few variations.

This is the simplest one.

Additional sticks are inserted only in one direction, producing checker pattern over hexagons.

Thick bamboo sticks are attached and bound with rattan.

Handles are attached using rattan.

Kamogawa

Kamogawa is a type of flower vase for tea ceremony. 

It was originally just a gabion, until someone found the beauty of the rustic simplicity in the constructing material and brought it in the tea ceremony hundreads years ago. 

The base is formed with a single hexagonal motif.

The top part is very similar to the base part.
There is no rim or bindings.
The material is simply woven into the body part.

Cocoon Basket

Tadashi Yagisawa is a basketry meister in the lineage of bamboo artists in Kanto region.

He has his own studio with apprentices, but he is also regularly teaching at culture centers in Tokyo.

That's where I learned how to make this basket.

It looks random but actually carefully designed to form the structure with minimum number of thick bamboo sticks.

The base is formed with a few hexagonal patterns.

There is no binding at the rim. 

The material is woven into the body part.

Asa-zaru in Tessen Pattern

Asa-zaru is almost flat dish like shape basket.

Tessen is a variation of hexagonal pattern named after clematis flowers. They saw clematis in it.

(Umm..., maybe at the center. Dunno...)

In the basic hexagonal pattern, material is locked at every step. It produces star like pattern.

In the clematis pattern, however, material is never locked. It produces the triangle pattern that is dense yet loose.

So it is better tied before trimming.

The body part is then fitted into a smaller hoop.

It is difficult to to give enough pressure manually.

In manufacturing process, probably more sophisticated jigs are used.

But on my kitchen table, casseroles do the same job.

I used two casseroles as a press machine. Vertically pressed the part with my weight between two casseroles.

Finally, thick rim is attatched to keep it in a shape.

Bamboo Shoot Gathering

One fine day in June 2016.

I was in a park waiting among other volunteers.

We were volunteering for bamboo shoots gathering.

Japanese timber bamboo is not just for timber,

the shoots and young tips are edible.

Some prefer half grown one like this at the center...

It's like you are cutting a giant asparagus,

or you became an ant wondering in an asparagus field.

A few hours later

We gathered enough bamboo shoots to share among 100 participants.

There were surprisingly many elderly citizens, and TV crews,

asking them 

the best bamboo shoot recipe.

"Chicken hide."

An obviously well off lady proudly answered.

"Stew bamboo shoots with chicken hide in teriyaki sauce.

It's delicious."

OK. This is the secret of long Japanese life.

They do outdoor volunteer work,

and eat chicken hide.

I cooked some flavored rice with bamboo shoots,

and canned the rest to save it for later.

Maybe I can save it for Bendor.

Gardening Stool

We found a rustic gardening stool in the charcoal hut,

our new basketry base in Chiba.

It's a good example of hexagonal, 

demonstrating the robustness of the structure. 

The leg consists of a single hexagonal base and two barrel hoops.

The structure cannot be more simple.

But handling thic material is not easy.

So the barrel hoops are used to keep it in shape.

The leg is done.

I'm going to finish the seat next time we visit the charcoal hut.

Dish drier

茶碗かご (chawan kago), dish drier

Kitchen utencil. Coarse basket for drying dishes.

Mutsume pattern 

Basic hexagonal pattern. 

Rim. Naturally formed by twisting back the material using a hoop.

Sashi mutsume

Inserting material to hexagonal pattern to make solid surface.

The leg is upside down Nodaguchi with open end.

Nodaguchi is a common technique fixing the rim between two thick strips.