Save when you buy a takadai with the ayatakadai add-on rather than buying the add-on later. Two screws hold the ayatakedai add-on in place, making it very easy to convert the takadai into an ayatakadai. The original takadai/ayatakedai combination was developed by Aiko Sakai, Makiko Tada's mother. She coined the word ayatakadai (eye-yuh-talk-ah-dye rather than the free standing ayatakedai (eye-yuh-talk-uh-dye) to describe this piece of equipment. One-hundred gram tama are traditionally used with the ayatakedai.
The ayatakedai makes warp-twined bands much like tabletwoven bands. The threads that are held on the hane (Japanese for 'feathers', the pieces of wood protruding from the front) twist around each other to make cords, a separate double weft holds the twisted cords together to create the textile. The ayatakedai holds 10 hane (han-eh) so that bands can be made using up to 60 tama with the two-tiered feathers which come included, and up to 80 tama with three-tiered feathers, which can be ordered separately.
One hundred-gram tama are traditionally used with the ayatakedai, but if you already have some tama on hand you might want to start with those to see how you like the resulting band. Our ayatakedai comes with its own sword which is longer than that used for the takadai.
The takadai/ayatakadai comes with two maple swords, one for the takadai a longer one one for the ayatakadai. The equipment uses a fastener system that was originally developed for conference booths because they were reassembled so often. Our equipment can be assembled and disassembled thousands of times without worry that there will be any failure of the bolt and dowel pin assembly.
Made in USA by BraidersHand. The waiting list is approximately 18 months for takadai/ayatakedai.
