Vintage Japanese Sakiori Hanhaba Obi | Rustic Traditional Kimono Sash

Dimensions: 7-0”w x 114” l

Offered is a beautifully colored and textured sakiori obi, or a rustic, traditional kimono sash. It is typically worn by women, and worn with a kind of casual kimono known as a yukata, and requires less kitsuke (accessories), to wear the traditional fashion. The Japanese word sakiori comes from "saki," which means to tear or rip up, and "ori," which means weave. Saki relates to preparing the fabric by stripping it into pieces, and “Ori" refers to weaving it together. The design and construction are based on recycling old fabric remnants into sakiori weavings, which supports the Japanese’ indispensable concept of “mottainai”, or not wasting precious cloth when one can prolong the fabric’s useful life through recycling and reuse. 

When we purchased this textile in 1998, it was finished with basting stitches, and the order of the width of these color blocks change down the length of the obi, which adds a beautiful design element to the piece. The colorations of the warp yarns are in vermillion red/ indigo blue/gray and beige silk and cotton textured strips. Foreigners throughout the world use Sakiori Obi for both decorative textile wall hangings and as table runners.

Condition: Excellent for the piece, perfect, and has a rich tone with no color fading or imperfections. The strength of the warp and weft is as originally made. It meets meet the high standards of Japanese textile design.