Japanese Rattan Basket

The most famous rattan basket in Japan is the Mutong basket in Aomori Prefecture, which uses the deciduous wooden vine plant Mutong (also known as wild papaya, August fried, etc.).
The wooden rattan harvested at that time will undergo 1-2 years of drying, and then be soaked in water for 1-2 days before weaving to soften it. There are more than 30 weaving methods.
The weaving technique of Mutong vine is known as "Mutong craftsmanship" and is one of the traditional crafts in Aomori Prefecture.
Due to the hard texture of wooden rattan, the weaving process becomes a double test of strength and skill, and usually a craftsman can only weave one rattan basket per day.
In addition, the number of craftsmen and the harvesting volume of wooden vines are decreasing year by year, and now wooden baskets are actually becoming increasingly scarce.
Due to retaining the original color of the vine, each wooden basket actually presents a different texture, with a simple and natural aesthetic.
The most prominent advantage of Mutong rattan is its strength. A rattan basket can even be used for decades, and its glossiness will become better during use.
Nowadays, this type of rattan basket is relatively difficult to buy in China, but it can be found on Amazon Shanghai in Japan, with a price of approximately 1000 yuan.
Of course, if you're going on a trip to Aomori next time, you might as well look for its traces.