Senninbari with Tiger Art (Thousand Stitch Belt)

Original Senninbari (Thousand Stitch Belt) with Tiger art! The writings says: “Gift to Kazue-kun, Japan’s National Women’s Association, Kami Machi Branch”. Measuring 92x34cm.

A senninbari (千人針, “thousand person stitches) or one thousand stitch is a belt or strip of cloth stitched 1000 times and given as a Shinto amulet by Japanese women to soldiers going away to war. Senninbari were decorated with 1000 knots or stitches, and each stitch was normally made by a different woman. Senninbari were typically 15 centimetres (5.9 in) wide and ranged from 90 centimetres (3.0 ft) to 120 centimetres (3.9 ft) or more in length. Each end of the belt could feature strings, snaps or buttons that allowed it to be fastened around the waist; examples lacking these were often tucked into the waist. Other variations were never worn, but may have been folded and placed inside helmet liners, pockets or packs.

In general, senninbari and later varieties one thousand stitch belts were believed to confer courage, good luck and immunity from injury (especially bullets) to their wearers. Some Japanese soldiers rejected the belief that the senninbari could protect them from harm, instead believing that the amulet would allow them to inflict the greatest damage upon the enemy before offering their own lives up in battle. Others in the military wore the senninbari as a memento and a keepsake of the women who had given it to them. (Source: Wikipedia)