Collection: Ojime おじめ Classic Collection
Ojime
おじめ (oh-jay-meh) are handcrafted decorative beads which originated in Japan as early as the 16th century. Strictly speaking, the word bead is superfluous as Ojime itself means cord fastener bead. They are typically between 3/4 inch and 1 inch in diameter with a vertical hole from top to bottom, and are made from fine metals, ivory, hornbill ivory, precious stones, jade, lacquer, tortoiseshell, glass, coral, bone, stag antler, boar tooth and tusk, nuts and seeds, as well as other natural materials. As will become evident, aside from being decorative, they have a very specific role to perform in traditional Japanese attire and as such, they go a long way towards defining the concept of adornment, namely that which is useful as well as beautiful.
