By Ines Keane
A thin cord of twisted paper. Stiff enough to hold a shape, light enough to curl into a crane. It is called mizuhiki, and if you have been handed a ceremonial envelope in Japan, you have probably already held one.
What it is
Wikipedia, the open encyclopaedia, describes mizuhiki as an ancient Japanese art of knot-tying, most often used to decorate envelopes for money. The envelopes go with New Year gifts, births and weddings, and funerals. The Japanese government’s English-language magazine, Highlighting Japan, adds that the cords also go on meaningful presents and on protective amulets from temples and shrines, and that cranes and turtles are common motifs. The same article says mizuhiki are now used for interior decorations and hair accessories.
The name is also used for the cord alone. According to Wikipedia, the stiff cord is made by tightly twisting lengths of washi paper, starching them for strength and stiffness, then colouring them with mylar or thin silk strands, or by painting them.
The oldest story
Where it began depends on which page you read, and the oldest story is the least checkable. The Nagano prefectural brand site says the oldest theory gives the year 607, when a Japanese envoy came home from an overseas mission with a gift tied in hemp cord dyed red and white, a prayer for peace and safety. Highlighting Japan puts it as “more than 1,400 years” ago, with red and white hemp strings on gifts for the Japanese Emperor. Wikipedia places it in the Asuka period and says an envoy brought gifts decorated with red and white hemp strings. So one source has a Japanese envoy returning home with the gift, one has envoys arriving from overseas with gifts for the Emperor, and one says only that an envoy brought gifts. We show them side by side.
Our reading: all three agree on the picture that matters, red and white string on a gift, and none points to a document.
Why Iida
Iida, in southern Nagano Prefecture, sits between the South and Central Alps. Highlighting Japan says it has the kozo and mitsumata plants used for washi, and clear water. The Nagano brand site describes it as known for beautiful water, kozo (a type of mulberry) and a dry, crisp climate. A Nagano tourism page adds that abundant clean groundwater and an inland dry climate suited kozo, which has strong fibres.
Then comes the odd part. The craft grew out of hair. Highlighting Japan says that around the Kambun era (1661 to 1673) people in Iida began using washi to make motoyui, the band that ties a topknot, and that it became a local speciality. In the Genroku era (1688 to 1704) one maker, Sakurai Bunshichi, produced a strong, glossy white version that sold in Edo.
After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the article says, topknots declined and demand for motoyui fell sharply. Iida people began making mizuhiki for commemorative envelopes instead. The Nagano brand site says the same: once the government ordered hair cut, motoyui was no longer needed, but the technique passed to mizuhiki. The Nagano tourism page says mizuhiki knot-tying uses the same technique as motoyui. Later, Highlighting Japan says, mizuhiki were used for betrothal gifts and New Year decorations.
How much of it comes from Iida
Highlighting Japan says Iida accounts for about 70 per cent of domestic mizuhiki production. The Nagano brand site says 70 per cent of all mizuhiki in the country. The Nagano tourism page says a 70 per cent share of Japan’s production. Three pages, one figure. Highlighting Japan also says that at the height of production some 5,000 to 6,000 people tied cords by hand during the slow farming season.
Reading a knot
The knot, the number of strands and the colours change with the occasion. Highlighting Japan says the way they are tied, and the number and colours used, vary by whether the event is celebratory or commemorative. The Nagano brand site gives the clearest rule. Butterfly knots, which can be retied and undone, are used for celebrations such as a child’s birth or a school advancement. Knots that are hard to untie are used for events not meant to be repeated, such as funerals, weddings and visits to the sick or injured.
Wikipedia adds that the colour depends on the occasion and, at funerals, can show the giver’s religious denomination. We leave that there and do not explain it. If you plan to use mizuhiki on a gift in Japan, the safe step is to ask the person selling it which knot and colour fit the occasion, because the three pages above give only general rules.
Dates in order
- 607: oldest origin theory, according to the Nagano brand site.
- 1661 to 1673: motoyui made from washi in Iida, according to Highlighting Japan.
- 1688 to 1704: strong white motoyui sold in Edo, according to Highlighting Japan.
- 1868: Meiji Restoration; topknots decline, according to Highlighting Japan.
- 2014: annual mizuhiki contest begins, according to Highlighting Japan.
- 2019: the Modern Mizuhiki Association founded in Tokyo, according to Wikipedia.
Side by side
The Nagano tourism page says the craft has been rooted in the area for “over 450 years”. Highlighting Japan says the tradition has been passed down in Iida since the Edo period, which began in 1603, and dates motoyui to the Kambun era, from 1661. Counted back from 2026, 450 years is the 1570s, before the Edo period began. The pages do not explain the gap. Our reading: it may be a rounding, or it may count earlier hair-cord work, but we cannot tell which.
What kind of sources these are
Highlighting Japan, a Japanese government publication; the Nagano brand site, a prefectural brand website (Shiawase Shinshu); a Nagano tourism page; and Wikipedia. None is written by a maker.
Questions a buyer would ask
Is red and white always right? The sources say colour depends on the occasion, and that funerals can use colour to show denomination. They do not list every case.
Does a loose knot mean good news? According to the Nagano brand site, retie-able butterfly knots are for celebrations that can recur and tight knots for one-time events. Highlighting Japan says only that knots, strand counts and colours vary by occasion.
What we left out
Prices, workshop details, named living craftspeople, a business’s award and the funeral colour rules, which no page set out in full.
Quick answers
What is mizuhiki?
According to Wikipedia, it is a Japanese art of knot-tying, most often used to decorate envelopes for money, with a stiff cord made by twisting washi paper.
Where in Japan is mizuhiki made?
Highlighting Japan, a government publication, says Iida City in Nagano Prefecture accounts for about 70 per cent of domestic production.
Why did Iida start making mizuhiki?
The Nagano brand site says topknot cords were no longer needed once the government ordered hair cut, and the technique passed to mizuhiki.
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