This basket is characterized by regularly lined hexagons.
Among these baskets, we introduce here is a type of basket for washing beans with reinforcing bamboo.

As the name suggests, they were originally used to wash beans.
There are various sizes and types of beans,
but the weaving is large enough to wash the relatively large ones.

In the production area,
there used to be other types of baskets for washing wild vegetables, mushrooms, and shellfish,
and you can see how colanders and baskets were subdivided according to their uses.

Craftsmen made different types of colanders and baskets so that people could spend their daily lives comfortably.

Compared to other bamboo crafts,
Miyagi Shino bamboo work is made of softer material and has thinner strips.
It is not a basket for carrying heavy objects,
so please be careful when handling it if you put heavy fruits or other objects in it.

You can fully enjoy the texture and feel of the light and supple Shino bamboo in this basket.
After washing, it is recommended to hang it on an S-shaped hook to dry.

Assuming that it is not to be carried or moved with things in it,
some people use it as a fruit basket or as a basket for cups to lie down in.

Although there may be fewer opportunities to wash beans nowadays,
please use it daily as a draining colander in the kitchen or as a multi-purpose basket.

— Lightness and Softness, Shino bamboo work in Miyagi —

In the Iwadeyama district of Osaki City, located about 50 km north of Sendai City in Miyagi Prefecture,
basket and colander making is said to have started as an in-house occupation of samurai families during the Edo period.

They were made using the supple thin bamboo called “Shino bamboo”,
which grew wild in the area, for tools for daily life and for professional use, depending on the purpose of use.

At its peak, more than 80 types of baskets and colanders were made,
but with the passage of time, the variety and production has drastically decreased,
and only a few elderly people make simple, old-fashioned colanders and baskets using only Shino bamboo.

Miyagi Prefecture’s shinodake work is known for its lightness and softness,
making it very easy to use in the kitchen on a daily basis.