What Do You Call... Those Drawstring Bag Purses?

Today's entry is about the small little purses you'll sometimes see people carrying with casual kimono like summer yukata. Sometimes seen with a square or circular woven basket bottom, the top of the bag is cloth closed with drawstrings and is worn held at the side or dangling from the wrist.

 

Girl wearing yukata in Kyoto, with kinchaku at her side. Image courtesy Paul Vlaar, from Wikimedia.

These little purses are called "kinchaku" (keen chah koo) 巾着. As these are traditional bags, you'll sometimes see geisha and their apprentices maiko carrying larger versions of kinchaku as part of their normal wardrobe.

Geiko (Kyoto geisha) Kimika, carrying the large style held in one's arms. Image courtesy Onihide and used with permission.