I’m a member of a reenactment group, the Society for Creative Anachronism or SCA. As a group, we’re not a full reenactment group in that we apply strict historical standards nor do we pinpoint a time or location. Instead, anything that Western Europe had contact with before 1700 is fair game to build your persona. And our historical standard is an ‘attempt at,’ which appeals to many and frustrates many; but that’s another can of worms. And because of this many people try to say that the SCA is a LARP, live action role play, but that’s not entirely true either. The SCA is something between the two, not a middle ground in historical standards but it’s own thing entirely. And these three different groups are not mutually exclusive; many people are finding joy in playing in two or more different kinds of groups. All that is just to introduce the rest of this post, do you practice kumihimo or kute-uchi or even both at your reenactment events?
Well, the first answer is it depends. ‘Oh, come on. ‘Depends’ is such a cheating non-committal answer!’ Yes, I know, but it really does. What are the rules of historical accuracy for your group? Are they ultra strict like the US Civil War or European Roman Empire groups? Or are they relaxed like the SCA or non-committal like LARPs? If your group has strict historical standards than the answer is kute-uchi for before ~1650, either or both for between 1650 and 1850-ish, and kumihimo for after 1870. ‘Ok, so dawn of man to 1650’s then 1650 to 1850s and finally, 1870 to present, got it…uh, what about 1850 to 1870?’ Well, that’s where it gets dicey as there is evidence that kute-uchi died out as a professional and commercial art, but it’s not really clear until 1870. And for clarity sake, 1650 as the start for kumihimo isn’t clear either but it’s a good start date, more on this and the 1850-1870 end date will have to wait for another day and another post so let’s move on.
For any other kind of group, doing either is perfectly acceptable. There are pros and cons to doing kumihimo or kute-uchi at reenactments.
For sheer mobility and ease of picking up and putting down, kumihimo wins every time, even takadai braiding. Kumihimo also takes up only one’s personal space, plus a desktop area if a stand from the takadai family is being used. Kute-uchi requires a braider to be literally tied to the braid and without a special tool can’t be put down until the braid is complete. And the amount of space required is the length of the final braid plus up to 50% and about a yard/meter wide. That’s a lot of space, and some people may not want to be tied, literally and figuratively, to one place dependent on their friends and others to come by to socialize.
‘So, why would anyone want to do kute-uchi then? Sounds like a pain in the a..rear.’ Two things, someone wants that historical accuracy and two, SPEED.* See, kumihimo makes a super look-alike braid, a good many of the ones based on historical patterns even look the same…on the surface. One of the last things I’m working on is translating Masako’s book and looking into her research on the structural differences, but she seems to be pretty clear that there are structural differences between kumihimo and kute-uchi.** Currently, all evidence points to that kumihimo couldn’t have developed before the 1650’s. For the speed aspect, in an ironic twist of fate, kumihimo is slower that kute-uchi and I don’t mean that you have to be an expert braider to tell the difference. In general anyone at any skill level will finish a loop-braided piece faster than an equal length of kumihimo. How much faster is kute-uchi than kumihimo? I don’t know yet but doing a series of test on this is another future project.
Remember when I gave that lame answer of ‘depends’ earlier? Yep, it depends on what the braider wants from their art and what kind of group they are in.
* Again, another post. It’s really ironic and kind of funny.
** At first, I took this at blind face value as Masako is THE WORLD EXPERT on Japanese loop braiding and a world expert on loop braiding from just about all cultures, but until I can read and verify her studies on structures, I’m working on doing my own studies.