shirasaya, wrapped

[Marius]

Gents,

 

some Japanese shirasaya have additional wrapping mad from some sort of natural fiber. Do you know what type of fiber is used? And how this type of reinforced sirasaya is called?

 

I have attached a pic (from eBay, sorry)...

[runagmc]

Mariuszk, I think the wrappings are just made from shavings of wood (honoki)... I guess they would be soaked in water for flexibility, and then they would tighten as they dry...

[Grey Doffin]

Wood doesn't change its length with changes in moisture content. It gets wider and narrower but not shorter or longer. I've always thought the bands were wood. Likely steamed or heated a bit to make them flexible, but glued in place.

Grey

[runagmc]

I've made some of these before with honoki shavings, and when I did it I just soaked them in water. They were actually flexible enough dry, but I figured the extra little bit of contraction from the moisture loss would help... it seemed to work pretty good for me...

 

I also made some out of poplar once...

[Ted Tenold]

Mariusz,

 

The bands are called "koppa maki". They're thin continuous strips planed from contrasting colored wood.

[Marius]

Thank you gentlemen :-)

[Geraint]

Hi Mariusz.

 

I have been racking (Wracking) my brains trying to find a reference but so far with no success. The wrappings are I believe from a leaf, not sure if it is bamboo or something else. If I ever do find the reference I will let you know. Just found this which confirms the m as hinoki; http://sayashi.com/articles/saya.htm

 

All the best

[cabowen]

In the past, some times fuji no eda (branches from the wisteria vine) have been used as well.