HANA-WARABE Earring

The brass fitting is a kazari-kanagu — the ornamental metalwork that dresses portable shrines, temples and Buddhist altars. Each one is chased by hand in the engraving tradition carried on in Hiroshima. The arabesque motif, a vine that never breaks, has stood for prosperity for centuries. Below it hangs a length of obijime, the braided cord that once tied a kimono obi. No two cords share a colour or a braid, so no two pairs are alike. Hana-warabe is what the town of Shobara calls the children who walk in its festival processions. We borrowed the name for the tenderness in the metalwork. What you can and cannot choose (please read) You choose the colour family, and nothing beyond it. Two pairs called "pink" will differ in depth and in weave, because the cords differ. What arrives will not match the photographs. You cannot choose which part of the cord is used. Whether your pair ends in a tassel or in the braid itself is decided cord by cord, by what that cord allows. The fitting comes in several patterns, and these cannot be specified either. Only so much can be taken from a single cord. What you receive is decided by the cord — and this piece is for people who find that worth having. Fittings: brass, gold plated. Earring findings. Made to order — about 12 weeks (within 3 months). Re:ADY B revives discarded kimono and obi one piece at a time, with sheltered workshops and traditional artisans in Hiroshima.