Koshu Inden

Deerskin and lacquer

Inden is deer hide patterned with lacquer. The hide is dyed black, navy, deep red or purple, and fine komon-style patterns are laid on in lacquer, so they stand slightly raised and shine. Deer hide is light, strong and soft, and the more you use a piece the more it fits your hand; makers say it easily lasts 10 to 20 years, and many people have theirs repaired and keep going. It is made in Kofu, Kai and Ichikawamisato in Yamanashi.

Two ways to pattern

• Lacquer patterning: dyed deer hide is cut to size and lacquer is pressed through a paper stencil.
• Fusube smoking: the hide is wound on a drum and smoked with burning straw to colour the pattern, only a dozen or so pieces at a time.
• The patterned hide is sewn into pouches and wallets; turning thick hide neatly at the corners takes real skill.

A purse in a comic novel

Forerunners of inden go back to the Nara period, and in the Sengoku era it was used on warlords' armour. The Kofu production area took shape at the end of the Edo period. The late-Edo comic novel Tokaidochu Hizakurige has a character take out an inden purse hanging from his waist, proof that inden pouches were already familiar.