Lidded box, Minakuchi handicraft

Minakuchi handicraft (Munakuchi zaiku) is the generic name for handicrafts produced around Munakuchi-juku on the Tōkaidō (Edo-period Edo-Kyoto highway) until the 40s of the Showa period (1965-1974). Vines like arrowroots that grow in the wild are processed, refined and woven. According to folklore, the surviving families of samurai warriors who died in the battle of 1546 in Kyoto relocated to Munakuchi, where they gathered wild arrowroot vines to make handicrafts. This became a side job for the retainers and warriors of the Munakuchi domain during the Edo period.