Shopping Guide
Popular manga and anime Kuroko’s Basketball is collaborating with traditional Kyoto craftsmanship. Imperial Enterprises has announced a series of “Kyoto x Kuroko’s Basketball Nishijin-ori Wallets.” A total of seven different varieties based on characters from the series were released on Wednesday, May 20, including: Tetsuya Kuroko, Taiga Kagami, Ryota Kise, Shintaro Midorima, Daiki Aomine, Atsushi Murasakibara and Seijuro Akashi, each of which will be limited to 2,000 only.
Kuroko’s Basketball, written by Tadatoshi Fujimoto, was published in Weekly Shonen Jump (Shueisha) from 2009 to 2014. A sequel, Kuroko’s Basketball: Extra Game is currently running in Shonen Jump NEXT!! (Shueisha). With the third season of the TV anime broadcasting from January 2015, it’s a massively popular franchise.
Now the series is collaborating with Kyoto’s traditional Nishijin-ori craftsmanship. A total of seven long wallets have been made featuring the six members of the “Generation of Miracles,” including Testuya Kuroko himself, plus Taiga Kagami. Intricately designed, each wallet has been made to match the characters with classically auspicious patterns. On the back of each wallet, there’s a golden decoration of a basketball - the essential motif of the series. On top of that, each wallet comes with an emblem of the character’s high school plus their color of gemstone attached as a netsuke.
The design is great of course, but even just as a wallet it’s extremely functional with 19 pockets! While it’s a long wallet, it has an L-shaped zipper arrangement so it’s easy to open and is suitable for use by any gender.
When you purchase a Kuroko’s Basketball wallet, it’ll be delivered to you inside a custom-made gift box bearing a character illustration. On a first-come, first-served basis, a limited number of wallets will come with a Nishijin-ori pouch in a matching pattern that you can use for various different items too.
This collaboration with traditional dyeing craftsmanship, Nishijin-ori, could only be with the popular franchise that is Kuroko’s Basketball. Great in design, easy to use and 100% authentic - these are sure to become a big thing!
Source: animeanime
