[Sunami Toru Shoten's Ikago]

Just as the sound of wind chimes attracts cool air, when you see a hand-woven basket made of natural materials, you somehow feel the freshness of a breeze passing through. "Ikago" is made of igusa, the same material used for tatami mats. Its cool texture and the soft, natural curves created by human hands are unadorned and beautiful.

Sunami Toru Shoten has inherited the family business of making Japanese straw mats in Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, the birthplace of the Japanese straw mat and the birthplace of the flower mat. Currently, the company has switched to the production of ikago, called yamikago, which were used for shopping on the black market after World War II.

The baskets are woven from rope-like lintel like a piece of cloth, and hand-formed into a basket shape with handles attached.

The faint light green color of the ikago gradually changes to a shallow brown as it ages. The more time you spend with it, the more it will become familiar to your hand, and the more memories you will keep in the basket.

Sunami Toru Shoten's Ikago
https://www.shokunin.com/en/sunami/ikago.html