Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Japan Day- Demonstration of Kumihimo (Braid Making)

The Japanese lady demonstrating on how to make a braid using takadai ( a high stand frame used in making braid)



Marudai- a round stand frame used in making braid



The different type of braids



The hands-on

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One of the demonstrations in Japan Day was the braid making or "kumihimo" in Japanese.
I got curious what kumihimo means so I googled it and found the definition.

According to wikipedia:

Kumihimo is a Japanese form of braid-making. Cords and ribbons are made by interlacing strands.

Kumihimo cord was first created by a form of finger-loop braiding. Later tools such as the Marudai and the Takadai were employed to make more complex braids in shorter time. The most prominent historical use of the cords were by Samurai as both a functional and decorative way to lace their lamellar armor, and that of their horses' armor (barding). Kumihimo cords are now used as ties on haori jackets and obijimes, which are used for tying on an obi (kimono sash).

I googled more and found info about marudai and takadai:

Taka (high) + Dai (a stand) = Takadai, high braiding stand
Maru (round) + Dai (a stand) = Marudai, round braiding stand



10 comments:

aurbie said...

Oh, Missy. I want to visit Japan. Between you and my son, who visited recently, I "really" want to see beautiful Japan!

Thank your for all your beautiful photos. They always make me smile.

Loida of the 2L3B's said...

Dearest Missy,

In our country, we only use our bare hands to braid. Japanese are really particular about the quality of their finished products. One good reason why we always preferred Japanese brands. Your beautiful photo of the Japanese Lady in pink looks like an old Geisha. hehe..

I hope when there's a chance, I hope you can also show us the silk making in Japan. Our friend Debby of the Pink Bird House would really love that. And me too..

What's today's Hula Scoop?

Take care Missy.. Regards to your cute baby boy.

Care,
Ate loida

HalfCrazy said...

Ooh, so cute, I like those braids, so stylish! Did you buy one?

The Pink Birdhouse said...

Missy, I got so excited when I saw what your post was about today - Kumihimo!! I just very recently heard about it, bought several books on the subject, and want so very much to learn how to do it. It TOTALLY fascinates me. I also found several on-line shops both here in Germany and in England that sell the supplies for making those wonderful japanese braids!! I would love to learn how to do it. How fabulous the braids are that were for sale there at the show, and I liked the photos of the woman demonstrating that old japanese art! FANTASTIC. thank you SOOO much for sharing this post with us. Debby

Missy said...

Patty- you should come and visit Japan :-) I'm enjoying the stay here....and it will be 3 yrs of adventure here before we leave

Ate Loida- I know I took a lot of photos of the old ladies wearing kimono hahaha, I missed the kimono wearing I should've done that for free

There's no hula scoop today maybe next week :-)

Halfcrazy- I didn't buy, they were not for sale they're only for displays hahaha

Debby- actually they're not for sale but only for displays :-) it's my first time to learn about kumihimo and I had no idea what was that until my son tried to braid some threads, I thought we just have to entangle the threads inside the disk because the Japanese ladies can not speak english so we just followed them by actions :-)

Garando said...

Wow, looks like your son is having a grand time learning a lot of Japanese handicrafts! ;)
Can he speak Nihonggo already?

HalfCrazy said...

Ay, haha, sayang naman! Those are very wonderful braids. Maybe if they do sell, they'll put up a sky high price on it, lol!

hensly said...

Great photos Missy! I've been to Japan twice and I can't wait to go back. Catching the Shinkansen, eating real sushi, bathing in the onsen... man, the memories!

Missy said...

Garando- my son learned some Japanese from Hawaii and he still remembers them and now he's learning some Japanese from his sister

Halfcrazy- you bet that would be expensive if they do sell the braids :-)

hensly- thanks for dropping by, I haven't tried the shinkansen yet but I will try that before we leave Japan; I eat a lot of sushi almost every week, 2pcs for 100 yen :-) in a sushi bar not bad

caryn said...

whoa! so that's how those are made! hahaha! ingenuous!