| Kyoto Kumihimo Braids | ||||
Kumihimo braiding goes back to Japan's prehistory, and Kyoto's braids became popular first in the Heian Period (10th century), when they used braids on clothing and interior items such as reed screens. Subsequently we can find braids used on samurai armor and on religious items, until finally, in the Meiji Period (1868-1912), braided ropes found their place as an indispensable part of kimono wearing. |
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Mr Shuhei Ooka's father was a kumihomo braider from the age of 14 until he died at 87 and a true master of the craft who could braid skillfully, no matter which of the four traditional looms he used. "I helped my father from a very young age," recalls Mr Ooka, "and I vowed that I would never become a kumihimo craftsman." But the very same Mr Ooka was 26 when he decided to make braiding his life work. For the past 40 years he has been working in the 2nd-floor workshop that was his father's and making braids on his same four looms. |
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Braiding was, no doubt, one of the first crafts ever created with man's two hands.There are fine examples in the Shosoin repository of imperial treasures in Nara. But the fundamental braiding techniques, roughly divided into Korai, Shiragi, Kara and Nara styles, are the same, with slight variations depending on their application in each historical period. Mr Ooka particularly enjoys the process called ayagaki, before the actual braiding begins -- this is the planning and designing stage. Decisions on the color, pattern and style of braiding, and the grade of the thread are the true test of a braider's genius. Simple doodlings in Mr Ooka's small notebook are transformed into exquisite braids. Of course there is much adjustment necessary during the process before he is finally happy with the color and design. When I was there he was working on a costly braid with a miniature design of the Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion) Temple using platinum thread. |
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Amazing elasticity Mr Ooka showed me a special tortoiseshell design used in samurai armor. He was making it to replace worn braids on a set of armor given to Tokugawa Ieyasu 400 years ago designated as an important cultural asset. Mr Ooka managed to replicate it from a few centimeters of the original braid, which was all that remained. The finished braid was thick to touch and you could stand it on its end without it fallng over, yet it was plaible enough to wind around your neck. "A well-made braids will survive 50 years of use," says Mr Ooka. He easily convinced me that the beauty of hand-braided kumihimo lies in the way that it returns so beautifully to its original shape even after being stretched and tied many times. |
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School excursions to Kyoto used to be just a matter of going round a few temples and gardens, but recently students are being given a chance to try their hand at traditional Kyoto crafts. Mr Ooka helps students to get a feel for silk braiding. With his patient instruction even a youngster can make an excellent obijime braid for a kimono in only 2 hours. Mr Ooka says he was overjoyed the day that a young student said she had been planning to wear Western-style clothes to her coming-of-age day celebrations, but now that she had woven her first obijime she would wear kimono instead. |
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