Kumihimo Culture & Technology Research Center

Not limited to traditional crafts such as industry, medicine, clothing, restaurants, and fields that require designfrom various fieldsWe accept requests for products and practical items that utilize braid technology.

Further evolution of Kumihimo technology

Kumihimo is a traditional technique developed uniquely in Japan that allows various designs, structures, and functions to be packed into a thin string. Learning the vast amount of accumulated historical techniques is important for making good braids and applied braids. Kumihimo has been used for various purposes in history, but in modern times, its use is limited to very limited fields despite the universality of the technique. Therefore, we believe that there are still many possibilities for future development and evolution, such as expansion into new fields, combination with new technologies and materials, and environmentally friendly and sustainable manufacturing.

Exploring history, systematizing and preserving technology

Kumihimo in Japan has a history of 1,500 years since it was introduced to Japan along with Buddhism. During that time, various amazing and advanced braids have been developed. However, compared to the overall picture, the actual items, records, and techniques that remain today are only a small fraction. At Domyo, we have researched and researched various historical braids that have survived since the Meiji period, and have reproduced and imitated many of them. If you think that you have researched the kumihimo that remains in Japan, you will still discover a kumihimo that you have never seen before at a pace of one every few years. At our research institute, we collect information on such ancient kumihimo, and fill in the lost pieces of the system of braid technology through restoration and imitation. In addition, we will keep the various techniques that have been devised in the past as living techniques so that we can respond to various special Kumihimo orders from our customers.

About dyeing

Thread dyeing is the first step in making braids. All colored threads are dyed one by one by craftsmen in Domyo. This makes it possible to create braids by freely combining countless colors. With monochromatic Kumihimo, it is important to be able to express the beauty of that single color clearly and with depth. With multi-colored Kumihimo, the subtle differences in hue and saturation of each color have a large impact on the overall impression, so the relationship between colors is important. The first step in making a good braid is to be able to dye it in a beautiful and appropriate color.
The dyes used in Domyo's yarn dyeing are chemical dyes. Compared to natural dyes, chemical dyes have higher color fastness, such as weather resistance and fading resistance, and are capable of vivid and stable dyeing. Natural dyes are used for the reproduction of historical braids, etc., in order to reproduce the thread dyeing of the time.
We also accept dyeing according to the purpose and dyeing with natural dyes.

what is kumihimo used for

Domyo Co., Ltd.'s main products are kimono belts. In addition, in 2016, we launched the western clothing department "DOMYO" with the desire to let people all over the world know about Kumihimo. In addition to being worn on the body, it is also traditionally used for sword strings, box strings, and parts of building materials. However, considering that Kumihimo is a technique that creates a very general form of one-dimensional lines, it is thought that it can be used in far more fields. We will clarify the merits of using braid technology in new fields, solve technical problems that hinder adaptation, and carry out a series of processes from proposals for use to technology development.

Kumihimo used in cutting-edge fields

Braided cord technology is already being used in several cutting-edge fields, such as cords made from carbon being used in the aviation industry and parts for industrial products. However, most of them are the simplest and basic braiding methods such as Karauchi, Yotsugumi, Maruhachigumi, and Kakuhachigumi. The essence of Japanese Kumihimo lies in its high degree of complexity, in which basic units of Kumihimo are combined in various ways to create cords with a variety of designs, structures, and functions. Composite Kumihimo allows you to control far more parameters than the simple Kumihimo mentioned above. It has become possible. At our research institute, we aim to have such complex braiding techniques used in a wide range of fields, from cutting-edge fields to general fields.

Kumihimo and the future

So far in Domyo
⑴    Using traditional braid techniques or new braid techniques based on tradition,
⑵    Hand-dyed and hand-assembled,
⑶    Using a raw material called silk
I have been making braids. However, we would like to deviate from the existing rules as necessary in order to make completely new use of braid technology in various fields in the future. Regarding the use of traditional techniques in (1), this is the core value of Kumihimo, so it cannot be omitted.
However, in (2), we will consider manufacturing methods other than manual work, for example, when using a method that requires a huge quantity or amount of material, or when using a method that requires strict manufacturing precision on a fine scale.
(3) Regarding raw materials, the current design and functionality of braided cords are largely due to the composition of the material called silk. However, we will consider the use of materials other than silk for applications that require much more durability and weather resistance than current applications, and applications that require special functions such as shining, transparent, warming, and cooling. .
At Yusoku Kumihimo Domyo, “DOMYO” and Domyo Kumihimo School, we will continue to pursue hand-dyed and hand-knitted silk braids. However, in making braids at the Kumihimo Cultural Technology Research Institute, we will remove the shackles of materials and manufacturing methods and thoroughly pursue the possibilities of braid technology in all directions.

Kumihimo Cultural Technology Research Institute
Kumihimo Culture & Technology Research Center

2-11-1 Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo Domyōnai Co., Ltd.
tel　03-3831-3773
mail　info@kdomyo.com