Mutsume Morikago: Part 2

Allow me catch you up on what we've been working on in the last two weeks. After weaving the bottom of the mutsume morikago, we erected the six sides and continued the same weave using four more horizontal higo (called mawashi-higo, 回しヒゴ; meaning "circular higo"), being careful to keep all the holes on each row perfect hexagons. Once the top mawashi-higo was in place we bent all vertical higo located on the outside inward; this secures the top mawashi-higo and finishes the weave. This entire process is done with three relatively thick prong-like pieces (kari-chikara-dake ; 仮力竹; "temporary strength bamboo") inserted in the bottom, used to keep the basket from losing its shape.

From there we moved on to fashioning the parts that would make up the basket's rim. There are three: the outer rim (soto-buchi; 外縁), inner rim (uchi-buchi; 内縁) and a filler piece that fits flushly between the outer and inner rims and hides the end of the higo weaving underneath (masa; 柾) (any one know the technical term for this piece?).

The inner and outer rims we made in the same way as higo, but these were much thicker pieces--2.0 and 2.5 mm--so when it came time to bend them we used what they call a heating jig (himage-jigu, 火曲げ治具). It's basically a tiered, hollow metal tower under whicih a burner is lit. Bamboo apparently bends more easily when it is heated and retains its shape well after it cools, so this seems to be the method of choice for bending thicker bamboo into perfect circles or semi-circles. Our instructor said that back when this contraption wasn't used craftsmen would bend the bamboo around their knee and rub it back and forth to create heat through friction, thus making it more pliable. Still, it would be difficult to bend it into a perfect circle through such a process. I can't imagine how difficult the task was back then. I finished bending all ten of my rims in about 30 minutes.

After molding the rims, the ends of each rim were cut to match the exact circumference of the basket. Next, 7 cm of each end were shaved away so the two ends could overlap each other, forming a closed circle. Both outer and inner rims were adjusted this way, but only the outer rims were glued shut; the outer rim decides the absolute circumference of the basket's rim, while the inner rim is made to expand freely to fit the outer rim. The rims are then clipped temporarily onto the basket so the masa can later be inserted between them.

The masa is fashioned like a higo, but made to be thick so it fills the groove between the two rims. The masa's skin is placed on the outside to match the rims, and it's split down the middle to help make it fit smoothly along the entire circumference. The picture above shows the outer and inner rims clipped temporarily, and the picture below shows the masa fit snuggly between them, this time secured by wire twisted tightly around all three. Notice the two bumps; this is the bamboo's joint. They become staggered because of the difference their circumferences.