Hi all,

I was looking for more information about kusudamas when I found a great text writen by Mio Tsugawa. I decided to copy part of the text to share some interesting info with you all ^^.

You shouldn´t miss her homepage! [link] She has amazing works there!


" What is the Kusudama? - Kusudama origin

The kusudama is an ornament which has a meaning of a talisman against evil made with some medicinal herbs.

Kusudama was introduced into Japan in the Heian period from China.
(The Heian era is from794 a.d. to 1192 a.d. )

Originally it is an ornamental scented ball or an ornamental ball made of imitation flowers.
(The various spices such as the musk , agalloch, clove are put in the bag of brocade and it is decorated with the string.
It is together with Japanese iris and mugwort ,etc..., and long string of five-colored are hung down it.)

When writing in kanji, "Kusudama" is divided into two words.

Kusudama kusu=kusuri : ( medicine or herb medicine)
dama= t(d)ama : (globular shape) "


For more info, visit Mio Tsugawa's homepage [link]

cya!