Purse (Frog Purse) - Purse

Japanese: がまぐち(蝦蟇口) - がまぐち

A general term for bags with a clasp. In the past, drawstring pouches were used to purse coins, but in the early Meiji period, gamaguchi were invented to imitate imported dollar pouches. The name gamaguchi comes from the fact that the clasp opens like a toad's mouth, and in the early days they were called toad drawstring pouches or Seiyo doran, and were worn over the shoulder or around the waist. The Tokyo Hanjo-ki (1873) states that "taking out the clasp from the kite's hideout, he urges the customer not to show his money," which shows that they had become common by that time.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

口金のついた袋物の総称。古くは小銭入れに巾着を用いていたが，明治初年に輸入ドル入れを模してがまぐちが考案された。口金がガマ(蝦蟇)の口のように開くところから〈がまぐち〉の名がついたもので，初期には蝦蟇巾着，西洋胴乱と呼ばれ，肩にかけたり，腰に下げたりした。《東京繁昌記》(1873)に，〈とんびの躱（かくし）よりがま口を取り出しながら，つけを見せなと催促す〉とあり，そのころには一般的となっていたことがわかる。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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