Ropes
HI 2350, etc.
There are various types of sacred ropes, including shimenawa, made by twining straw to the left three, five, and then seven times, leaving the ends hanging down; wajime, knotted in a circle; ebijime, a curved form; and kazarimusubi, or decorative knots. People thought that ropes and knots had magical power. Ropes on the border of a village, at the entrance of a house, or in front of a temple, demarcate the sacred from the secular. Decorative ropes on the entrance of a house at New Year, as well as on the table for a wedding ceremony, indicate the border between the special and the mundane. Ropes later developed in many other forms as well. For example, in a tug of war, two teams of people pull one rope from each side, thus telling a fortune or foretelling the harvest. The ceremonial belt for sumo wrestlers called yokozuna represents their extraordinary power. The cord used to tie up the sleeves of a kabuki actor is another developed form of such ropes.