If you look up the word “knitting” in a dictionary, you will find the following

Amu [knit].
1 To combine yarns, bamboo, rattan, wire, hair, etc., in different ways to form a single shape. To make something in such a way. To weave a rush into a rush mat, or to weave hair into a braid.
2 To make a book by collecting various texts. Edit. To compile a collection of articles.
3 To make a plan. To organize. To organize an itinerary.

In the world of crafts, the word “weave” refers to the first of the above, but I think the key to this word is “to combine in different ways.”
It is the fruit of primitive wisdom to create a single form by combining differently. It may sound a bit rough, but if we disregard visual beauty and durability, we can create some form of expression by simply gathering grass that grows along the roadside and weaving it together.
The act of weaving requires only human hands, and does not require the power of chemical transformation (as in the production of lacquerware and ceramics).

Because of this clear-cut handwork, handcrafts of weaving have been fostered in many parts of the world, and a craft field called “braided goods” was born in Japan as well. Tools such as baskets and sieve that we see in our daily lives are typical examples of braided products.
However, the Japanese archipelago is long from north to south, and the vegetation in each region differs according to climatic differences.
In warmer regions, where bamboo from the tropics is abundant, braided products using split bamboo strips flourished, while in colder regions where bamboo does not grow well, braided products made from tree vines and tree bark were born.

The basket of wild grapes in the image was made in Akita, Japan.
The vine, which grows wild in the Mt. Chokaisan, is gathered, stripped of its bark, dried, softened, tanned, and woven into a basket. This is a beautiful handiwork that makes use of the harvesting and production techniques that have been handed down by the local people for hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of years.

Although braided products have probably the oldest history among the crafts produced by humans, they do not inherit the techniques of their predecessors, but rather reflect the aesthetic sense and skills of their makers.
For example, this basket was made using the basic technique known as “Ajiro-weaving, (wickerwork)” but small braids were added here and there to create an unprecedent elaborate decoration.

By integrating originality into the work of art, while properly inheriting the basic techniques devised by the predecessors, the art of “weaving” (and the braided products that are the result of that art) will continue to be loved by people, and live on for a long time as a craft that conceives locality.