'Wait, I thought all Japanese braiding was called kumihimo?' Not really, only by the most strict definition of kumihimo's translation 'braided thing' is Japanese loop braiding kumihimo. ‘Hold on, what is kumihimo and kute-uchi then?’ Well, kumihimo covers a category of braiding called stand and bobbin based on the tools needed to make kumihimo. And kute-uchi covers a category of braiding called loop manipulation or loop braiding.
Because of kute-uchi’s recent revival, many practitioners believe that kumihimo is centuries older than it is and therefore all Japanese braiding is kumihimo. But there is a vast difference between the techniques of kumihimo and kute-uchi, much like the difference between hand sewing and machine sewing. Fully delving into all the reasons that the two techniques should remain in their separate categories will take a few posts but I’ll start with an outline of those reasons here.
The nitpicky difference is the actual techniques used between the two, but it’s those techniques that create structural differences. The structure of kumihimo and kute-uchi are not vastly different but do point to some historical dating of when kute-uchi started dying out and kumihimo started growing. Eventually, kute-uchi died out giving kumihimo a chance to be thought of as the only method of Japanese braiding.
The more compelling reason builds off the fact that kute-uchi died out. An etymological study of the word kumihimo reveals the origin of ‘kumihimo’ dates to the 1870’s. While kumihimo and kute-uchi were practiced side by side for two hundred years, by the 1870’s kute-uchi had become a ‘lost art.’ But kumihimo didn’t catch on until around the 1930’s, well after the last Kute-Uchi Master had died. So when the word ‘kumihimo’ was coined and came to define modern Japanese braiding, kute-uchi was out of the picture.
‘What about the fact that the word ‘kute-uchi’ only dates back to the 1970’s?’ As the other two reasons will need their own posts, the origin of the word ‘kute-uchi’ also needs its own post.
Why is it important to differentiate the two and to call kute-uchi by the correct name? It comes down to maintaining the historical agency of Japanese loop braiding. A change in the Japanese braiding world is the rediscovery of kute-uchi, and by not separating the two it only perpetuates the belief of kumihimo being older than it was; confusing when one ended, and one started. An extreme example would be lumping animal driven wagons with automobiles. Today it seems an absurd comparison but in a few hundred years lay people could easily make that mistake.