<Obiage>

The obiage is used to hang from the obi pillow, but by using the obiage correctly, you can remove wrinkles from the obi drum made by the obi pillow and create a beautiful shape.

Obiage and obijime started to be used after the end of the Edo period, when the Otaiko knot was born. Obiage and obijime were invented to support the Otaiko, but it wasn't until the Meiji period that they started to be used in earnest. However, at that time, they used whatever fabric they had on hand, and it wasn't until the end of the Meiji period that fabric with selvedge for obiage started to be made.

Today's obiage come in a wide variety of colors, patterns, and materials. Materials include crepe, patterned crepe, silk crepe, satin, and donut, and are dyed with techniques such as tie-dyeing, yuzen dyeing, shading dyeing, stencil dyeing, and embroidery.

Among them, tie-dyed obiage come in a variety of designs; those with gold and silver foil on white all-shibori are suitable for formal wear, those with bright all-shibori are suitable for furisode, and those with white or pale-colored backgrounds and splashes of shibori are ideal for casual wear such as komon and tsumugi.

 

<Obi-jime>

The obijime is used to hold the obi in place so that it does not lose its shape, and by using a sturdy hand-woven one correctly, the obi will maintain its good shape for a long time.

The technique of braiding threads together was originally introduced from China and Korea, but is now unique to Japan. It developed through its use for the strings of Buddhist scrolls, the strings of Buddhist robes, and the attire of samurai, and it was not until the end of the Meiji period that women began using it as an obi-jime (sash fastening). Until then, people used strings made of cloth with cotton inside called "maruguke," but with the demise of samurai society following the Meiji Restoration and the issuance of the sword abolition law in 1876, the demand for braided cords decreased and they began to spread to the common people. Today, with the boom in antique kimonos, maruguke obi-jime are once again gaining popularity.

Depending on how it is braided, various designs can be created for obijime.(Flat hit)"Marugumi" is a round structure.(Round Hit)There are countless ways to braid it depending on the maker's arrangement, and the type of stand used will change depending on how it is braided.