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Event Description
Craft Workshop 8/13
In Japan, some of the traditions are still found commonly in our daily life, and one of them is “Mizuhiki” – the decoration usually found on top of envelope, tied around it, used for special occasions such as weddings and funerals. The envelope contains money for cerebration or obituary gift, not letters. The decorations are typically made of thin strings, more like wires made of Washi paper, twisted to form a tie though not like ribbons. Traditionally the ties are consisted of two different colors - Red & White are casual and Gold & Silver are formal for cerebration, and Black & White for condolence. While there are many styles of “tie”, the simple form is usually used for the casual occasion and condolence envelope. That means, the more complicated the twist are the more gorgeous they look, and that represents more deluxe and larger scale of cerebration such as wedding vs. ordinary graduation, thus the more money may be expected in it. So, if you want to impress someone, you may use the most flamboyant Mizuhiki, along with lots of money, of course.
So, this is our first trial of Mizuhiki workshop. The form was simple one and the Chikako-san’s style. She first made us practice with just one string to study the procedure how it would twist and cross to tie. Then we tried with 4 strings, 2 each of gold and silver. When you look at it, it seems very easy but it gets you confused. They are also very small so it requires a lot of patience and concentration. At the end, however, we all succeeded. Hopefully, we’d remember the technique till we come to an occasion of cerebration so today’s practice may become useful. Thank you, Chikako-san.
Midori Shinye
Project Organizer
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