”JAPANESE BRAIDED CORDS” by NISHIOKA SAMURAI’S ARMER & BRAIDING STUDIO

Japanese arts and crafts are famous for exemplifying aesthetic beauty, and integrating a variety of skills in the process.The Decorative Sutra is a marriage of a variety of crafts - paper-making, dyeing, calligraphy, silk weaving, gold smithery, cord braiding, etc. Each technique has an exclusive history. Made from hemp, cotton, and silk, Japanese braided cords are fragile and deteriorate easily. In the past, Japanese cords were considered adornments and were not highly valued in themselves. Thus, it is rare to find cords that date back to medieval times.

From the earliest times, rope or cord braiding has been found in societies around the globe. However, not many people have concerned themselves with the slow demise of traditional braiding techniques. In recent years, thanks to the effort of scholars, interest in braided cords, and braiding techniques, has revived. Thus, traditional braiding has become more familiar to the general public.

Kute-uchi kumihimo gihou (Kute-uchi braiding technique) is a hands-on method. The braided threads are looped together. The loops are slipped around the hands or fingers. Consequently, the upper and lower threads need to be synchronized, and the braided threads become two or four-layered braids. By changing the linkage, the braided cords become a Kaku-gumi (square braid) or a Maru-gumi (round braid).

 

Since the loop manipulation technique is a finger/hand-held method, even producing simple braids requires at least two people working together; one person manipulates the threads and the other uses a spatula to beat and tighten the braided part. It requires four to five people’s hands to make more complex braids like Yon-ren Kaku-gumi (four-linked square braids) which are found on braided cords used in funeral services at Chusonji-temple, or Ryo-men Kikko-gumi (a double sided hexagon pattern braid) found on cords preserved at Mitake-shrine.

Nowadays it is almost impossible to assemble braiding experts for long-term projects, so I have created an original stand for long and complex braids, which simultaneously allows me to work alone, and replicate the loop-manipulation braiding technique. The advantages of using this stand are that it eliminates the need for other craftsmen, and allows me to stop, rest and restart at my own convenience. Ultimately giving me more time to study techniques, and devise new plans when I am restoring ancient cords or working on personal projects.

Our studio primarily produces and restores armour and arms. We also produce and restore braided cords utilized for pictorial scrolls, scripture, or shrine and temple accessories. Braided cords usually deteriorate over time or are lost. However, if we are given an original fragment of a cord, we can restore or replicate it.

The national treasure “Heike Noukyou” is a set of thirty-three sutra scrolls. Taira no Kiyomori and the Taira clan transcribed and dedicated the scrolls to Itsukushima Shrine at the end of the Heian period (1164 CE). Each scroll was made by the best craftsmen of the time, and it was deemed to be the greatest decorative sutra of the Heian period. The braided cords attached to the scrolls also exhibit the finest craftsmanship and beauty.

   This scroll cord is a combination of three differently designed braids arranged in a line of five cords. Apparently, three or four people braided different designs, and simultaneously fed them to a master craftsman who completed the work. It shows the sophistication of the Kute-uchi braiding technique, and also the outstanding artistic sense entailed in designing such a complex Yabane (fletching) pattern.

As you can see, braided cords have had an integral role in the evolution of Japanese armour.

The colors and patterns of the braids have reflected the trends and preferences of certain eras. On historic order forms for armour, there are explicit designations for color and design, which exemplify how military clients’ valued the details of their armour. If you are going to die in battle, you might as die in style. The shades of color in the braids were an integral part of Japanese armour and invariably reflect the personalities of the bearers. In short, the colors distinguished one great warrior from another.