Kumihimo - the Japanese method of moving strands or threads that intersect sideways with each other.  These structures are controlled by how they are intertwined, which creates both flexible and strong braids.  Their shape roundish or flat can classify these braids.  Round braids originated from twisted cords.  A single person without any equipment can make the simplest of braids.  When the cords became thicker and longer, there is the possibility that two or more people may have worked on the braid to make a single cord.  Flat braids are developed by increasing the number of threads and increasing the complexity of the movements to make an intricate design.

Kumihimo has typically been overlooked due to the braid taking a secondary decorative role to the main item that it is being used on.  Braids were used to fasten together the plates in armor, articles used in Buddhist ceremonies, various types of clothing and fasteners to a multitude of scrolls, pouches, and swords.  There are still many gaps in the history, especially when was it brought to Japan and how it was developed.

Braids have been widely used in Japan since ancient times.  No actual samples of braids have been found from the early periods.  Excavations of burial mounds from earlier time periods (300-8000BC) shows evidence of twisted ropes or possibly braids pressed into clay pottery to make patterns.  This lack of examples is due to the climate of Japan that destroys the natural materials used.  Japanese braiding seems to have been influenced by Chinese and Korean Buddhism during the Asuka Period (552-645AD).  It has been suggested that all Japanese braiding techniques originated in China or Korea.  There have been recent excavations that this type of braiding may have come from the West.

The excavations at the Tarim Basin at Urumchi in western China have yielded textiles including braids dated at 1000BC.  The mummies at Urumchi are about six feet tall with light brown/red hair with Caucasian features.  Did these early people bring their braiding skills from the West?  There is a long history of similar braiding structures in the Baltic States and Eastern European countries from the Baltic to the Black Sea.  Is this the region the mummies came from and did the Chinese learn from them?

The few braids found from later time periods (Asuka Period and later) have had to be studied and reconstructed.  It is not clear if it was by the use of a braiding stand or a finger loop method.  To make studying kumihimo even more difficult, many braid patterns and techniques were often kept secret without written records or patterns.  Current theories are now leaning towards the finger loop manipulation techniques. 

The use of the Kakudai and Marudai stands appear to be ___________centuries. Ayatakedai stands seem to have evolved during the 13th-14th centuries,while the Takadai stands are a late period invention of the 16th-18th centuries.

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A General Kumihimo History