Kyoto kimono fabric Sailor Moon wallet would look as good in Japan’s old capital or Crystal Tokyo

Centuries-old textile-making techniques are part of this stylish anime wallet.

Between clothing lines, official themed cafes, and the materials needed for independent tribute projects, fans of Sailor Moon have a lot of opportunities to reach for their wallets. But the next time they come across some must-have piece of anime merch, Sailor Moon fans can pay for it by slipping bills out of a gorgeous wallet that makes use of traditional Kyoto kimono-making techniques.

Kyoto was Japan’s capital for more than a thousand years, and you’d be correct in assuming that long-held position translates into the city also being a center of kimono culture. In particular, garments made using the Kyoto-produced textiles known as nishijinori are particularly prized for their intricate patterns and elegant colors, both of which are on display in this new nishijinori-style kimono fabric Sailor Moon wallet.

The moon and rabbit motif serves a double purpose. In Japanese folklore, rabbits are said to live on the moon, and so such images have been featured on kimono fabric for generations. At the same time, the character Sailor Moon’s ordinary-schoolgirl name, Usasgi Tsukino, literally translates to “rabbit of the moon,” when said family name-first, and so the crescents and bunnies are a fitting choice for the wallet, which is made from Kyoto-produced fabric and assembled in China.

A popular Japanese superstition holds that if you place bills into your wallet without folding them, you’ll have economic stability and prosperity in life. While always-logical Sailor Mercury would scoff at such an unscientific belief, the length of the nishijinori Sailor Moon wallet is still pointed out as a positive by its producers. On a more rationally practical front, it has a total of 19 pockets, giving you plenty of places to store bills, coins, and your Sailor Moon fan club ID card.

Other nods to the anime come in the form of a decorative button styled after the Crystal Star Compact, as well as charms dangling on the end of the zipper cord which are shaped like the Silver Crystal and a crescent moon.

▼ Purists may take issue with the fact that the Silver Crystal is supposed to be part of the Crystal Star Compact, and really shouldn’t be able to exist separately from it. Non-purists will just think it’s cute.

While the wallet itself is a container of sorts, it comes packaged in a snazzy Sailor Moon themed box.

Also somewhat ironic is that fact that while you can purchase the wallet for a single-payment price of 19,800 yen (US$180), you can also elect to make four separate payments of 4,980 yen instead, making the wallet easier to obtain even if you don’t have much spare cash to actually put in it.

Orders can be made online here through Japanese anime merchandiser Premico, with shipping listed as taking one to four weeks. Quantities are limited to 2,000 units, so you’ll want to act fast if you’re building an anime kimono-based wardrobe.

Source, images; Premico

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