What is a tsurikawa?

A tsurikawa is the hanging hand strap you hold on a Japanese train. The word joins tsuri, to hang, and kawa, leather, the material the first straps were made from.

How it ended up on cars

The story usually told starts with the bosozoku, Japan's street gangs, who took straps off trains and hung them on their bikes and cars as a small act of defiance. The look outlived the gangs and became part of JDM culture.

Where people hang one

Off the rear tow hook is the classic spot, where it swings behind a lowered car. Inside, it goes on the seatbelt, the headrest or the rearview mirror. Some states limit what can hang from a mirror, so check yours.

It is decoration, not hardware

A tsurikawa can look like a tow point. It is not one, so never pull or tow anything with it.

Ours

Handmade from resin with chopped carbon fiber, on a leather strap, in bunny, moon, butterfly, flower, cloud and barbed wire heart designs. $30. Shop tsurikawas