While all the ornaments are handcrafted, certified professional craftsmen who create kanzashi are aging, and the number of craftsmen in the capital has dropped to under 10 people. Orders for the items are also concentrated during the season of coming-of-age ceremonies, graduation and entrance ceremonies, and Shichi-go-san celebrations, for girls aged 7, boys aged 5, and girls and boys aged 3, as the kanzashi are worn together with formal kimono. Tsumami-kanzashi fabric hair accessories are used today to add a touch of color to celebratory occasions and events during one's lifetime, including weddings and traditional Nihon Buyo dance performances. The appearance of the finished item is said to differ greatly depending on the paste. ![]() However, the development of strong adhesives after World War II opened up the possibility to use fabric of various sturdy material, and expanded the range of ornaments using the traditional technique. It's as if they are actual flowers in bloom for a fleeting period," said Sugino. The ornaments also lose their shape when they get wet, and the cloth discolors through exposure to light. "As paste made from rice is used to stiffen the silk, bugs and mice chew on the fabric. Starch paste made from rice was originally used, and this glue is still used to make traditional kanzashi crafts like those available at the Sugino Shoten store. While the materials and procedures for creating the traditional hairpins have remained generally unchanged since the Edo period (1603-1867), the material used for paste is the sole factor that has been greatly altered. For about 200 years since then, the traditional culture of these hair accessories continued to be passed down through the handiwork of unsung craftsmen. It was toward the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate that production of tsumami-kanzashi hairpins flourished in Edo. While different types of cloth have different textures, silk is soft and absorbs glue well, making it easy to shape into various forms. ![]() Meanwhile, there are no existing ancient tsumami-kanzashi created from "habutae silk," a kind of high-quality woven cloth which is used as the primary material for the traditional hairpins today.Īlthough plain weave fabrics use one warp and one filing yarn each, "habutae" is woven using two warp yarns, which brings out softness and a glossy finish. Old hair clips made of silver and other metal, stone, or caramel-colored "bekko" material made by processing shells of hawksbill sea turtles still remain today. ![]() ![]() In the old days, kanzashi hair accessories for women were created by using various material. It is said that the traditional craft began in the ancient Japanese capital of Kyoto, and later spread to Edo, present-day Tokyo. "Tsumamu" means "to pinch" in Japanese, and the ornamental flower petals of tsumami-kanzashi are created by pinching and folding tiny square silk cloth about the size of postage stamps. A piece of square silk is seen folded twice into a triangle with tweezers, as part of the process of creating "tsumami-kanzashi" traditional hair ornaments, at Sugino Shoten store in Tokyo's Sumida Ward on March 4, 2021.
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