The old-fashioned woven name tag of Ichizawa Hanpu bears our shop address.
It is our guarantee of our product follow-up and indicates that you can bring your bag to our shop for repairs.
This spirit of serving our customers still lives on today.
Repairing bags is a most time consuming task that requires both skill and utmost care as we do not wish to destroy any of the memories that the bags are steeped with.
Regardless of the time and skill required, we have, as much as possible, tried to accept all requests for repairs of bags which have been used for tens of years as we proudly uphold our shop’s motto of “durability and long life” to this day.
With the attachment the owner has for the bag and the shared memories in mind, we carefully repair the bags as it is our dearest wish that this will further enable their time together.
Repair sample
The handles are worn out after many years of use.
Six metal fittings removed as well as the thread; old handles cut half way.
New handles stitched on to overlap the original ones and new metal parts added.
H-12 / Replacing handles
The handles are worn out after many years of use.
Metal parts and thread have been removed as have the worn handles.
New handles are stitched on tracing the stitch holes of previous handles.
Last, new metal parts are added.
S-19 / Repair hole
Front flap has a hole from many years of use.
Material is placed on the underside of the hole to reinforce the material and stitched on from the front.
No.305 / Replacing handles and shoulder straps / Repair of material
Handles and shoulder straps are worn out and the back of the bag is frayed after many years of use.
Handles and shoulder straps are replaced with new ones; material is placed to reinforce frayed fabric and stitched on from the front.
When requested for repairs, we sometimes hear reminiscences about the bag or read about them in the letters that are placed with the bags sent to us.
Each is unique.
For example, the one from an elementary-aged child:
“Thank you for repairing my bag so quickly and beautifully. I’m so happy to be able to use it again in school tomorrow.”
A businessman wrote:
“I go to the office with this bag packed with the lunch prepared by my wife and my water bottle every day. My wife always gets up at 4:30 a.m. to make the lunch boxes for me and our daughter. At times when it’s a chore to go to the office, when I don’t want to go to work, or when my mind is filled with various thoughts, the bag seems to give me a little push in the back.
The slightly worn bag and I overlap and so I would like you to infuse it with just a little bit of energy so that we can safely retire together.”
Although we would like to respond to each request as much as we can, at times we must turn down some as the material has become too worn to sustain repairs.
We are extremely remorseful at such times but at the same time, filled with joy at the love and caring the owner has shown toward his/her bag.
This bag’s owner is Mr. Hitomi Yamaguchi, a noted Japanese author. His bag was too frayed to repair. If you are interested, the particulars of the bag have been introduced in our boss’s blog.
Although repairs take time and effort, it is most rewarding.
Repairing someone’s favorite bag and giving it another lease on life has been and is our shop’s mission.
Therefore, before you give up on your bag, please contact us to see whether it can be repaired or not.
For those interested, we have also introduced other repair examples and how we repair bags on our official Instagram or X.