Edo Gassai-bukuro Bags: To the World. #April Dream
Pleats Co., Ltd. announces its "April Dream" to globalize the traditional Edo "Gassai-bukuro" bag culture. Facing challenges like aging artisans, the company aims to pass on Japan's bag-making heritage to the next generation by reinterpreting Gassai-bukuro for modern lifestyles under its "Nanasan" brand.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 1, 2026 at 10:10
- 🔍 Collected: April 1, 2026 at 08:05
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 21, 2026 at 10:26 (482h 20m after Collected)
Our company, Pleats Co., Ltd., endorses April 1st as a day to express dreams, and through this press release, we announce the dream of Pleats Co., Ltd., a manufacturer and wholesaler of fabric bags. We are engaged in the manufacturing and wholesale of fabric handbags made by artisans, and we strive to pass on this traditional skill to the next generation.
The bag industry, including traditional Japanese fabric handbags, has a long history dating back to the Edo period. However, due to the aging of artisans, the shift to overseas production, and the shrinking market for Japanese traditional attire, this culture faces a crisis of survival. The "Gassai-bukuro," a unique Japanese bag cherished since the Edo period as a "bag that can hold everything and anything," is now rarely known, and the number of artisans who make them is steadily decreasing. We are concerned that the "Gassai-bukuro culture" itself may disappear from the market.
As pioneers who created the classic Japanese traditional bag, the "Rikyu bag," about 50 years ago, we will continue our efforts to convey artisan culture and bag culture.
Since 2016, our company has been reinterpreting and experimenting with the "Gassai-bukuro" to deploy it as a bag usable with both Japanese and Western attire. Currently, we offer Gassai-bukuro related products under the brand name "Nanasan," named after our founder's father, Umezawa Nanasan, an artisan who crafted a handbag that won a gold medal at the 1937 Paris World Exposition.
We manufacture and sell various styles of products such as "Gassai-Teasage," "Edo Tesage," and "Nanasan Kake," and many people, including inbound tourists, both domestically and internationally, have come to know and love the "Gassai-bukuro."
*Image: Gassai-Teasage (3-way specification)*
*Image: Edo Tesage (Handbag style)*
The bag industry, including traditional Japanese fabric handbags, has a long history dating back to the Edo period. However, due to the aging of artisans, the shift to overseas production, and the shrinking market for Japanese traditional attire, this culture faces a crisis of survival. The "Gassai-bukuro," a unique Japanese bag cherished since the Edo period as a "bag that can hold everything and anything," is now rarely known, and the number of artisans who make them is steadily decreasing. We are concerned that the "Gassai-bukuro culture" itself may disappear from the market.
As pioneers who created the classic Japanese traditional bag, the "Rikyu bag," about 50 years ago, we will continue our efforts to convey artisan culture and bag culture.
Since 2016, our company has been reinterpreting and experimenting with the "Gassai-bukuro" to deploy it as a bag usable with both Japanese and Western attire. Currently, we offer Gassai-bukuro related products under the brand name "Nanasan," named after our founder's father, Umezawa Nanasan, an artisan who crafted a handbag that won a gold medal at the 1937 Paris World Exposition.
We manufacture and sell various styles of products such as "Gassai-Teasage," "Edo Tesage," and "Nanasan Kake," and many people, including inbound tourists, both domestically and internationally, have come to know and love the "Gassai-bukuro."
*Image: Gassai-Teasage (3-way specification)*
*Image: Edo Tesage (Handbag style)*