Kumihimo

[2] Literally meaning "gathered threads", kumihimo are made by interlacing reels of yarn, commonly silk, with the use of traditional, specialised looms – either a marudai (丸台, lit.

There are a number of different styles of kumihimo weaving, which variously create a braided cord ranging from very flat to almost entirely rounded.

The city of Nara emerged as a centre of cultural and artistic exchange and became the point of introductory of kumihimo to Japan.

From the late Heian period, nioi-odoshi (匂威) and susogo (裾濃), a weaving technique characterized by gradations of color, appeared.

[4][5][6] During the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1600), a weaving technique called mongara-odoshi (紋柄威), in which mon (family emblem) and designs were expressed in two colors, appeared.

Later, tools such as the marudai and the takadai were developed, allowing more complex braids to be woven in a shorter amount of time.

A traditional marudai allows the weaver to use as many yarns of as many thicknesses as desired, and to create braids which are flat, four sided, or hollow.

A foam kumihimo disc constrains the weaver to no more than 32 yarns that must not be thicker than the notch allows, and does not enable the creation of flat braids.

[citation needed] To make a flat braid a separate rectangular or square "disc" must be made or purchased.