Mizuhiki twine art

Mizuhiki is a Japanese craft that uses twine made from washi (Japanese-style paper) to create fancy bows and other designs. You could call it a rough analogue of American pipe-cleaner art. Anyone familiar with Japanese culture has probably seen it decorating gift packages or envelopes used for cash gifts given at weddings:

  img39048212

Foreigners who rave about Japanese gift-wrapping techniques often have this stuff in mind.

More than 70% of Japan’s mizuhiki output comes from Iida, a city in Nagano prefecture. The city is home to a mizuhiki museum, where you can find some more creative renditions of the art form:

tk

A turtle and a crane, made as a gift to Crown Princess Masako Owada.

dress

A twine wedding dress.

dragon

A dragon (If I am not mistaken, even the smoke is made of twine).

4 thoughts on “Mizuhiki twine art”

  1. My mother, who passed away last week leaving 45 pieces of Mizuhiki that she learned how to create when she lived in Japan for 15 yers. Is there an “english translation book I can get.
    Please let me know. I have supplies and tools but no instruction book in english.
    Please reply via my e-mail and thank you so very much.

  2. I’m particularly interested in the gift wrapping techniques, and would like to obtain the instructions.

Comments are closed.