Edo Sarasa · Floral Arabesque, Red × Navy Gama-guchi Pouch — product view
A woman in a dark robe holding the red and navy floral arabesque pouch at a dressing table.
A woman in a cream jacket placing the floral arabesque pouch into a tan handbag.
A seated woman in navy holding the patterned silk pouch in one palm beside a round table.
A woman at a wooden desk holding the floral pouch beside a brown handbag, notebook, and pen.
The red and navy floral arabesque pouch standing on pale stone with its metal clasp and silk texture visible.
The floral arabesque pouch on a cream upholstered chair in front of a tan leather handbag.
The patterned silk pouch on a dark wooden console beside a lamp, decorative bowl, and vase.
Edo Sarasa · Floral Arabesque, Red × Navy Gama-guchi Pouch — product view
A woman in a dark robe holding the red and navy floral arabesque pouch at a dressing table.
A woman in a cream jacket placing the floral arabesque pouch into a tan handbag.
A seated woman in navy holding the patterned silk pouch in one palm beside a round table.
A woman at a wooden desk holding the floral pouch beside a brown handbag, notebook, and pen.
The red and navy floral arabesque pouch standing on pale stone with its metal clasp and silk texture visible.
The floral arabesque pouch on a cream upholstered chair in front of a tan leather handbag.
The patterned silk pouch on a dark wooden console beside a lamp, decorative bowl, and vase.
Somenosato Ochiai, General Incorporated Association SKU: BJ_P_00017

Edo Sarasa · Floral Arabesque, Red × Navy Gama-guchi Pouch

Price
Regular price ¥18,330
Regular price Sale price ¥18,330
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Product Details

PRODUCT DETAILS

A vivid textile accent in a compact form

Compact in scale yet vivid in presence, this silk tsumugi pouch pairs a red-magenta floral arabesque front with deep navy sides and a framed metal clasp. Its rounded form turns a familiar accessory into a small study in color, pattern, and the layered visual language associated with Edo Sarasa.

USE & APPRECIATION

Small moments with floral arabesque

A pattern to begin the day

Begin getting ready with a closer look at the pouch in your hands. The red-magenta floral front brings color against plain clothing, while navy sides define its rounded shape. Let this compact silk accessory suggest a detail to echo elsewhere in your outfit for an indoor occasion.

A woman in a dark robe holding the red and navy floral arabesque pouch at a dressing table.

A vivid detail inside your bag

When preparing for an indoor visit, choose a small accessory that brings pleasure each time you reach into your bag. This pouch pairs vivid floral silk with plain navy sides, making the patterned front the focus. Set it beside a neutral handbag and enjoy the contrast before putting it away.

A woman in a cream jacket placing the floral arabesque pouch into a tan handbag.

Bring the pattern into conversation

Over conversation indoors, a small accessory can become something to appreciate up close. The pouch's curling flowers and leaves stand out against a plain navy outfit, giving the silk surface room to be noticed. Keep it away from drinks and enjoy sharing the details that caught your eye.

A seated woman in navy holding the patterned silk pouch in one palm beside a round table.

A small pause at the desk

Take a moment at the desk to arrange what you want within reach. The pouch's bright floral face contrasts with a plain notebook and leather bag, adding textile detail to a practical setting. Enjoy the pattern as you move between your bag and a clean place on the table.

A woman at a wooden desk holding the floral pouch beside a brown handbag, notebook, and pen.

Give the floral detail room

Between uses, give the pouch a little space on a clean indoor surface. Its red-magenta silk and navy side panels offer two contrasting views of the same compact form. Turn it slightly to enjoy how the floral design meets the plain fabric at the edges.

The red and navy floral arabesque pouch standing on pale stone with its metal clasp and silk texture visible.

Pair patterned silk with plain leather

Choose accessories together before an indoor occasion. Beside plain leather, the pouch's floral silk becomes the richer detail, while navy sides keep its shape composed. Enjoy pairing different materials without adding more pattern, then keep the pouch dry and separate from anything that could mark the fabric.

The floral arabesque pouch on a cream upholstered chair in front of a tan leather handbag.

An evening accent at home

At home in the evening, leave the pouch where you can still enjoy it after use. Warm lamplight brings another mood to the red-magenta floral silk, with the navy panels keeping the outline distinct. A simple arrangement lets this small accessory contribute color to the room.

The patterned silk pouch on a dark wooden console beside a lamp, decorative bowl, and vase.

OBJECT PASSPORT / CARE & USE

Care & Handling

Care summary for the Edo Sarasa silk pouch: washing, ironing, and outdoor use are not permitted.

Washing, ironing, and outdoor use are not permitted.

OBJECT PASSPORT

Product details

Dimensions
9 × 14 × 10 cm
Material
Silk (tsumugi), 100%
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 representative of Somenosato Ochiai in a blue kimono standing at a wooden entrance.
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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