Edo Sarasa · Black Floral Arabesque Gama-guchi Eyeglass Case — product view
Black Edo Sarasa floral arabesque eyeglass case beside a closed book on an indoor reading table.
Black Edo Sarasa floral arabesque eyeglass case beside a notebook on an orderly indoor work desk.
Black Edo Sarasa floral arabesque eyeglass case on a dressing table in soft morning light.
Black Edo Sarasa floral arabesque eyeglass case on a bedside table at the end of the day.
Black Edo Sarasa floral arabesque eyeglass case on a calm hotel-room desk.
Edo Sarasa · Black Floral Arabesque Gama-guchi Eyeglass Case — product view
Black Edo Sarasa floral arabesque eyeglass case beside a closed book on an indoor reading table.
Black Edo Sarasa floral arabesque eyeglass case beside a notebook on an orderly indoor work desk.
Black Edo Sarasa floral arabesque eyeglass case on a dressing table in soft morning light.
Black Edo Sarasa floral arabesque eyeglass case on a bedside table at the end of the day.
Black Edo Sarasa floral arabesque eyeglass case on a calm hotel-room desk.
Somenosato Ochiai, General Incorporated Association SKU: BJ_P_00016

Edo Sarasa · Black Floral Arabesque Gama-guchi Eyeglass Case

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Regular price ¥17,476
Regular price Sale price ¥17,476
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Product Details

PRODUCT DETAILS

A Garden of Edo Sarasa Held in the Hand

Wrapped in black silk tsumugi and patterned with an intricate field of flowers and curling arabesques, this gama-guchi eyeglass case turns an everyday necessity into a compact expression of Edo Sarasa. The gently arched metal frame gives the silhouette its distinctive character, while muted blue, rose, cream, and ochre details emerge against the deep ground.

USE & APPRECIATION

Beside the Book You Return To

End a reading session by placing your glasses in a case worth leaving in view. Against dark wood, the black silk ground recedes while softly colored flowers and vines come forward. Enjoy the small patterned accent beside your book before returning to the next chapter.

Black Edo Sarasa floral arabesque eyeglass case beside a closed book on an indoor reading table.

A Calm Place Between Screen and Paper

Between screen work and handwritten notes, give your glasses a consistent place on the desk. This compact case introduces floral silk beside plain paper and metal tools. Its curved frame keeps the shape clearly defined, making an ordinary change of eyewear a chance to notice the textile.

Black Edo Sarasa floral arabesque eyeglass case beside a notebook on an orderly indoor work desk.

Part of the Morning Dressing Ritual

As you get ready indoors, place the case beside your mirror and choose what to keep close. Muted flowers soften the black silk ground, while the metal clasp gives the rounded form a distinct edge. Pair it with plain objects and let the pattern provide the interest.

Black Edo Sarasa floral arabesque eyeglass case on a dressing table in soft morning light.

The Last Object Put Away at Night

Make putting your glasses away part of a quiet bedtime routine. In lamplight, the case's softly colored arabesques stand out against black silk, bringing detail to the bedside table. Leave it in a clean, dry place and enjoy seeing the same familiar pattern in the morning.

Black Edo Sarasa floral arabesque eyeglass case on a bedside table at the end of the day.

A Familiar Detail in a Hotel Room

During a stay away from home, arrange the case beside a notebook in your room. Its floral silk gives a personal character to an otherwise practical desk, while the compact shape keeps the setting simple. Let the familiar act of storing your glasses mark a moment to settle in.

Black Edo Sarasa floral arabesque eyeglass case on a calm hotel-room desk.

OBJECT PASSPORT / CARE & USE

Care & Handling

Care summary for the Edo Sarasa black floral arabesque eyeglass case: washing and ironing are not permitted.

Washing and ironing are not permitted.

OBJECT PASSPORT

Product details

Dimensions
19.5㎝×9.5cm
Material
100% silk (tsumugi)
Product weight
70 g
Origin
Japan
Craft Heritage

CRAFT HERITAGE

Craft Heritage

Sarasa originated in India more than 3,000 years ago and spread across Asia and Europe, developing in ways that reflected the cultures of each region. It is believed to have reached Japan during the Muromachi and Momoyama periods, between the 14th and 16th centuries.

Edo Sarasa emerged from the middle to the late Edo period. By the closing years of the period, stencil-printing specialists had established a distinctly Japanese form of sarasa that became widely known.

Its designs often stylize flowers, plants, birds, animals, and human figures, combining an exotic visual character with the climate and aesthetic sensibilities of Japan. Depending on the design, artisans layer color through approximately 20 stencils, or as many as 90 for more intricate patterns.

Subtle shading, softly blended effects, delicate tonal gradations, and a subdued palette shaped by Tokyo's water are defining characteristics of the craft.
How It’s Made

TRADITIONAL CRAFT PROCESS

How It’s Made

About the Making Process
Edo Sarasa is created by layering multiple stencils and colors by hand to form patterns on cotton or silk.
Even a relatively simple design may require 20 to 30 stencils, while an intricate pattern may use as many as 90.
The artisan plans the palette around the fabric's ground color and the customer's order, then mixes the dyes with careful attention to how the colors will appear when layered.

1. Making the Stencils

  • Sheets of handmade washi are laminated with persimmon tannin to form traditional stencil paper.
  • The design is cut into the prepared paper to create the stencils.

2. Planning the Ground Color and Palette

  • The artisan considers the fabric's ground color and the customer's order when selecting the colors for the pattern.
  • The full palette is planned with careful attention to the appearance of overlapping colors.

3. Dyeing the Ground Color

  • Cotton or silk fabric is given its ground color using hikizome, a method of applying dye across the fabric with a brush.
  • This establishes the overall color of the cloth before the patterned colors are applied.

4. Preparing the Printing Paste and Dyes

  • A printing paste is prepared from glutinous rice flour, rice bran, salt, and other ingredients for use in stencil dyeing.
  • The dyes are mixed with careful consideration of how each color will appear when layered with the others.

5. Hand Stencil Dyeing

  • Each stencil is positioned on the fabric, and color is rubbed through it by hand with a brush.
  • Depending on the design, approximately 20 to 90 stencils are carefully aligned and used in succession to build the pattern.
  • The artisan adjusts the pressure and movement of the brush to create subtle shading, softly blended effects, and delicate tonal gradations.
Meet the Maker

MEET THE MAKER

Meet the Maker

MAKER · OCHIAI, TOKYO

A Dyeing Culture Carried by a Community

Some-no-Sato Ochiai preserves more than finished textiles. It carries forward the knowledge of how designs are drawn, stencils are cut, color is judged, cloth is stretched, and skill is passed from one person to another.

A person in a blue kimono standing at the entrance of Some-no-Sato Ochiai.
Yoko Takaichi, Representative Director and Cultural Steward

Yoko Takaichi’s path into this world began through the neighborhood itself. Raised close to kimono through her mother, who worked in tailoring, she later created a local community publication while raising her family. A visit to the dye house Futabaen led to her involvement with Some-no-Komichi, a community project created to make Ochiai’s nearly hidden dyeing culture visible again. In 2015, she served as the project’s representative. She now leads Some-no-Sato Ochiai as its representative director.

Her role is to hold together the workshop’s cultural purpose, its relationship with the neighborhood, and the work of the dyeing craftspeople. The workshop’s craftspeople carry out the dyeing, while Takaichi connects their work with the wider community as its representative.

A Century of Dyeing in Ochiai

The workshop traces its lineage to Futabaya, established in Ochiai in 1920. The district had become a center for dyeing as makers moved upstream in search of cleaner water along the Kanda and Myoshoji rivers. At its height, the area was home to more than 300 dye-related businesses; lengths of cloth being rinsed in the river were once part of the neighborhood’s everyday landscape.

That industrial landscape has become far smaller, but the work continues. Some-no-Sato Ochiai was established to carry the century-old workshop heritage forward, train people, share the culture, and keep hand processes present in the city where they developed.

Why the Hand Still Matters

Edo dyeing is a sequence of judgments. A design is translated into stencils; cloth is fixed evenly to a long printing board; paste and color must be applied with control; each layer must meet the last. A single Edo Sarasa design may require dozens of stencils, while especially complex work can require hundreds. In the coloring room, recipes handed down over time are not simply repeated: craftspeople continue to adjust and develop color by eye and by experience.

These hand processes create the rhythm of pattern and depth of color associated with Edo dyeing. The judgment of craftspeople working with stencils, paste, and dye shapes its expressive character.
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