brain picking

[ironymaiden]

is there a preference in any Asian cultures for clockwise versus counterclockwise rotation or path?

i know that the direction you wrap a kimono matters, and i know that swastika decorations typically have the arms facing left instead of the right-facing nazi usage. i'm not coming up with the right keywords to google this, so if anyone has a clue or can point me in a direction, i'd appreciate it.

EDIT: i'm using a fabric with a directional print of geishas on it; i'd prefer that i not send an unintended message by turning them the wrong way.

Comments

[mimerki.livejournal.com]

Clockwise is also sunwise (the direction the sun crosses the sky) and almost universally positive/good/natural. But that doesn't necessarily mean that (frex) kimonos are tied in a clockwise fashion because other things come into play (like how that effects your swordarm).

[ironymaiden]

i've never understood that, the idea that clockwise is the way the sun goes. if i'm facing north, it goes counterclockwise.
when last i wore a kimono, i was told that wrapping it the wrong direction was only done with funeral garb, although i suppose if you don't have your sword arm free you're dead...

[mimerki.livejournal.com]

I don't really get it either, but it's the general perception in the northern hemisphere. (I don't know about the southern hemisphere.)

I'm not sure which way is "right" on a kimono, so I can't comment. It's jsut a thing I know can change how things are done.

[ironymaiden]

oh, the kimono thing is all over teh internets. "For both men and women, wrap the right side of the kimono over the body, then overlap it with the left side. Right on top of the left is only used to dress a corpse for burial."

[butterflydrming.livejournal.com]

L and I have conferred on this. Our evidence shows that the pref is not for either/or, but for an equal balance of both. Motions are both left and right (kyudo, tea ceremony whisking), patterns are symetrical(kumihimo braiding) or harmoniously asym (bondage). The patterns on kimono go in both up and down directions.

In kyudo, we were taught to begin with the left (rising, walking, drawing the pantomimed bow) and finish with the right.

You might try Googling for things about Shinto. Shinto has shaped the JP culture in a lot of everyday things. You might also try feng shui, but that's more about placement than direction.

[ironymaiden]

thanks! (a little googling shows directionology to be a Taoist thing, of which feng shui is a subset.) i think i'll go with the balancing; it seems to be a reasonable choice.