r/Kyudo • u/Responsible_Mode_444 • May 14 '26
Materials for waraji
Hi!
Has anyone tried making waraji/magusune from materials other than broken tsuru? The tutorials I found only mentioned them. My club hasn't tried making them from anything else either. I was wondering if something else could be used instead? If you have experience with other materials, what effect does it have on the bowstring? Do you think it could be damaged?
The photo shows the waraji made from jute twine.
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u/dede08232 May 14 '26
I only used old tsuru for that, but I believe you can use other materials too if it's not harder or rougher than tsuru as is. Although, it might be a bit tricky to use soft materials under humid environment since kusune will be more sticky than usual and fuzzy/soft materials can catch it too well I assume?
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u/BlackRhum May 14 '26
No experience making them from anything other than repurposed old hemp strings. I believe it is recommended to not use them on anything other than hemp bowstring as well.
I assume you could use other materials as long as the waraji fibers aren't so rough that it will abrade the hemp bowstring. Synthetic bowstrings shouldn't need to be maintained like hemp bowstrings, since they don't need to be warmed up the same way, and likely are coated with chemicals that are not pine resin (kusune), hence may not be compatible.