Senninbari

Very long types of senninbari, called tasuki, could be worn criss-cross fashion over the chest, shoulders and back.

In general, senninbari and later varieties one thousand stitch belts were believed to confer courage, good luck and immunity from injury (especially bullets) to their wearers.

Some Japanese soldiers rejected the belief that the senninbari could protect them from harm, instead believing that the amulet would allow them to inflict the greatest damage upon the enemy before offering their own lives up in battle.

[1] Senninbari could be made by a soldier's mother, sister or wife, who would stand near their local temple, train station or department store and ask any female passerby to sew in a stitch or knot.

During the height of WWII, women's organisations would gather to produce senninbari en masse in order to meet demand.