Kikkō 亀甲

Kikkō (亀甲) means a tortoise’s shell; the dictionary Daijisen also uses it for the tortoiseshell shape and a family crest modeled on it. Kikkō shibari is a body tie whose rope makes a pattern of hexagons, which Shibari Study and Andrea Ropes compare to the six-sided plates of a tortoiseshell. Rope365 records the name for hexagon variations of the diamond body harness.

What it looks like

Japanese Wikipedia’s article on kinbaku calls the kikkō the most famous of all ties. It describes a harness hung from the neck, with a hexagon on the chest and the ends finished at the wrists, and notes that it is sometimes tied purely as decoration without binding the wrists at all. The dedicated Japanese article adds that the kikkō restrains less than many other ties but is prized for its symmetry and for the way the rope follows the curves of the body, so that today it is used mainly for its appearance. In English Wikipedia’s list of Japanese ties, kikkou is a body tie whose finished pattern, resembling a tortoise shell, sits on the front of the upper torso. Crash Restraint’s tie index files an under-ribs kikkou karada under decorative tying.

Hexagons or diamonds

The boundary with hishi is disputed. Japanese Wikipedia reserves kikkō for hexagons and hishi for diamonds, though it notes that some people count diamond ties as kikkō too, since the finished tie also suggests a shell. English Wikipedia says the traditional split between hexagon and diamond patterns is often dropped today, with kikkou serving as a catch-all name for rope body harnesses.

Variations by teacher and school

• Shibari Study: its glossary defines kikkō shibari as a hexagonal pattern and says hishi patterns are commonly, and in its view incorrectly, called kikkō too. It suggests this may come from two schools (ryū) of hojōjutsu having used similar but different patterns.
• Rope365 (Ebi McKnotty): the page on diamond chest harnesses treats karada or hishi as the usual names for the diamond harness and describes the hexagon version as a popular variation named kikkō.
• Lazarus Redmayne, TheDuchy: TheDuchy’s public summary by Lazarus Redmayne compares Kikkou Karada with Hishi Karada, with hexagons in place of diamonds. The tutorial itself is for members only and was not read.
• Lesnoeuds.com: this French knot site lists “Hishi Karada” as another name for kikkou and describes the pattern as diamonds, which is the opposite of the split drawn by Japanese Wikipedia and Shibari Study.

Origins

Japanese Wikipedia links the pattern to the tying of large, heavy loads such as rice bales, and to its standing as an auspicious motif, but both claims are tagged as lacking a citation, so the origin of the tie remains unconfirmed.

Lesnoeuds.com offers a different origin: it calls it probable that the kikkou goes back to popular theatre of the Edo period, and says it became widely known through kabuki, where it was used because it could be seen from far away. The text of its page does not attribute the claim to anyone. JAANUS, a dictionary of Japanese art terms, describes the hexagon pattern itself (kikkōmon) as a motif that came from China, was Japanized in the Heian period and carried auspicious meanings of longevity; its entry does not mention rope.

Difficulty and risk

None of the sources in this entry gives the kikkō a skill level. Kinbaku World lists it as intermediate, the more cautious choice and the level used for the closely related hishi, with moderate risk because it wraps the torso. This page describes the tie; it does not teach it.