Changing Spots: Using Combinatorics to Count Japanese Braiding Patterns
Joshua Holden

Proceedings of Bridges 2022: Mathematics, Art, Music, Architecture, Culture
Pages 327–330
Short Papers

Abstract

Kumihimo is an ancient Japanese braiding technique which involves 8, 16, or more strands of fiber which are braided while being suspended from a frame or plate. The final braid can be round, flat, or in-between. Rosalie Neilson [8] explored the technique known as Kongō Gumi, which refers to a particular braiding pattern usually done with 16 strands, each chosen from 2 different colors. Neilson attempted to classify these patterns up to a natural set of symmetries. I decided to verify this count using mathematical combinatorics and discovered that Neilson was four patterns short. She and I then tracked down the missing patterns together. I also applied the technique to braids with 4 colors. The same techniques can be applied to other numbers of colors and also to other types of braids.

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