Rice bags for carrying 30 kg of brown rice. The rice is put in these bags from each production area to the rice milling plant, and the milled rice is then divided into smaller bags.

Each production area has a different printing design, and the bags collected were printed in one or two colors of red, green, and blue. To transport 30 kg of rice, the bags are triple-layered, and the paper used is slightly shrinked kraft paper, which has high tensile strength. Some of the bags were perforated for inspection and sealed by a sticker with the 検 (tested) mark.

Before paper bags became prevalent, rice was transported and stored using straw bales. In this region, bales were apparently filled with an inner bag made of Japanese paper coated with persimmon tannin, and the paper was called “tategami”. The “tategami” used for storage at home continued to be used, reinforcing it with paper and persimmon tannin when it was torn. I have heard that the paper had black spots on it, and I imagine that the tannin must have reacted black when it came into contact with the iron component somewhere. The farmers themselves made the persimmon tannin and bales from materials that were close at hand, and it was said that if one could carry a 60 kg rice bale on one’s shoulder, he or she was considered to be a mature person.