Senninbari
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Senninbari (千人針 Thousand-person-stitches?) was a strip of white cloth, approximately one meter in length, decorated with 1000 stitches in red thread from 1000 women, used as an amulet given to soldiers on their way to war as a part of the Shinto culture of Imperial Japan.
The custom of producing senninbari originated during the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. The red color of the stitches was considered a “lucky” color, and the belts were believed to confer courage, good luck and immunity from injury (especially bullets) upon their wearers. A senninbari had to be made by a man's mother, sister or wife, if married, who would stand near their local temple and ask any female passerby to sew in a French knot stitch with red thread. However, according to the superstition, any woman born in the "year of the tiger" could sew either 12 stitches or her own age. Some belts were lined with the woman/women's hair. Additionally, coins could be sewn into the belt.
The stitches were usually arranged in multiple rows but could also be stitched in patterns of flags, patriotic slogans and tigers. The most common slogan was bu-un cho-kyu for "eternal good luck in war". Tigers were popular as they were known to be able to roam far away from home and then return safely. Some of these belts were called "tiger belts", if embroidered in the image of a tiger.
The senninbari were usually made as a sash were worn under the uniforms of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy, but could also be made as hachimaki (headbands), belts, vests, and caps.
Senninbari, more commonly known in the west as the "Thousand Stitch Belt", were featured in the 2006 movie Letters from Iwo Jima.
[edit] References
- Daugherty, Leo (1997). War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War. Pantheon. ISBN 0394751728.
- Dower, John W (2002). Fighting Techniques of a Japanese Infantryman in World War II. Zenith Press. ISBN 0760311455.
