Tsumami zaiku is an ancestral Japanese craft technique that developed during the Edo period (1603-1868). This art consists of cutting squares of different sizes from fabrics of different colors and assembling them using tweezers with thin tips to create the wanted shape.

The name of this art is taken from its technique:

        “tsumami” (つまみ) means “to pinch”

         "zaiku" (細工) means "detailed work"

The most common final form of tsumami zaiku art is a flower.

The most commonly used fabric for tsumami zaiku is chirimen (ちりめん). It is a Japanese fabric woven made with small waves.

There are 2 basics forms of folding: the ken-tsumami (剣つまみ) which is pointed and elongated, and the maru-tsumami (丸つまみ) which is rounded.

The tsumami zaiku being a traditional Japanese art, it is known to all. However, unlike other traditional arts, such as origami, it is much less present in the daily life of the Japanese.

During the many traditional Japanese art workshops held all over Japan, young Japanese girls create with the help of professionals their own tsumami kanzashi (traditional hair accessory, つまみ簪) in the colors of their traditional wear.

For men, there are very little reasons for them to buy tsumami zaiku other than to give them as gifts. For the creation of jewelry, tsumami zaiku is sometimes mixed with the art of mizuhiki (knot-tying, 水引).

 

Tsumami kanzashi is an art with infinite possibilities thanks to all the choices of shapes and colors.