Carol Nagano and some friends spent a stunned moment recently when a fellow Waialua High School classmate reminded them they will turn 70 this year.

Aches and pains keep her mindful of her age, but Nagano's kokoro (spirit) is much younger. It is with that youthful enthusiasm that she teaches kumihimo, or Japanese braiding, four times a month or more.

Kumihimo is an ancient craft brought to Japan from China through Korea, and involves four types of looms and weighted bobbins. A braid can be simple, using four bobbins manipulated in two steps, or more complex, such as oimatsu, (a Nagano favorite), a 24-step braid made with 16 bobbins. Many braids use more bobbins and more steps.

Nagano's beginners learn simple braids, which get more complex as classes progress, but even a simple braid can be beautiful, given the colors and types of fibers used. The possibilities are limitless, Nagano tells her students.

Following her 1996 retirement after a 34-year federal civil service career, her passion for kumihimo was ignited in 1997 under her first instructor, Jean Sakihara at UH Lab School. In 1999 with a grant from the state Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Nagano went to Japan for two weeks of intensive instruction at the Hakubi Kyoto Kimono School. Teachers were strict, knowing her intention was to teach the art in Hawaii to help keep it alive, and she started with sporadic workshops in 2000.

Prior to Western contact, kumihimo flourished in Japan where it was used for samurai helmets and armor, weapons and horse harnesses as well as clothing and religious accouterments. Progressing westernization cut traditional sources of income for kumihimo craftsmen, so they turned their energies to making obijime, colorful cords tied around the obi, or wide sash around kimono. No longer an integral part of Japanese culture, kumihimo is primarily the realm of crafters and hobbyists who make necklaces, bracelets or other accessories using fibers, leather, jewelry-making wire and other materials, often incorporating beads.

Nagano teaches beginner and intermediate/advanced classes twice a month at both the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii and Moiliili Community Center and sometimes at the Kamana Senior Center in Hilo — volunteering her time.

“;For seniors, it's really nice,”; as many have trouble threading needles, or sewing, because “;their eyes aren't so good, or perhaps they are arthritic, but you can still do kumihimo,”; she said with a lilt. Friends and fellow kumihimo artisans Helen Oka and June Fukumitsu often accompany her to help students. In a role reversal, Nagano is the helper when longtime kumihimo student Mary Kamiya teaches a beading class at Moiliili.

Nagano never thought of turning her kumihimo knowledge or skill into a business. “;No, I don't want to,”; she said. “;For me, I think it would destroy the beauty of it and kind of, maybe, my passion for it.”;

“;My reward is when (students) make something really nice, or come up with a combination that I never thought of, that's the joy I get out of it.”; She also feels rewarded when students give back, like the one who makes kumihimo leis for JCCH to give to VIP visitors, or seniors at Moiliili who donate their pieces for sale at center fundraising events. State “;funding (for) the Moiliili Community Center is not money going down the drain. It's helping seniors stay active and alive and the seniors give back,”; Nagano said.