In this study, we evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively the production of the braiding process when using a kumihimo disk for beginners. An experiment was conducted to establish a teaching method for braid making using a kumihimo disk. In Study 1, 12 beginners braided a braid for 5 min with “Yatsu-Kongoh”, used a kumihimo disk. As a result, the direction of movement of the thread was divided into a constant group and a non-constant group. Comparing the thickness of the braided strings, the group in which the direction of movement of the thread was constant was finer. From the findings obtained in Study 1, Study 2 was conducted to clarify whether changing the disk or holding the thread affects the finish of the string. 11 beginners braided a braid for 10 min with “Yatsu- Kongoh”. As a result, the string tied under the condition of changing the disk and holding the thread was thin. As a consideration, the importance of thread holding was suggested, and the direction of teaching to beginners was suggested.

Cellulose nanofibrils prepared by aqueous counter collision method (= ACC-CNFs) favorably cover the surface of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) microspheres simply by mixing in the ACC-CNFs aqueous dispersion. Recently, the authors proposed that an impact-resistant composite material was successfully obtained from the iPP coated with ACC-CNFs via usual injection-molding process. This improved impact-tolerance appeared due to embedding of a three-dimensional framework of CNFs resembling a plant cell wall structure (=“plant cell wall”-mimicked frameworks) of ACC-CNFs that contribute to synergetic effects for the improvement in the mechanical properties. In this study, it is focused to elucidate crystallization of iPP on the ACC-CNFs scaffolds. Thermal analyses indicated that ACC-CNFs was likely to induce transcrystallization of α-form of iPP. Moreover, the crystallization was strongly influenced by ACC-CNFs with different cellulose sources. Microscopic observations demonstrated that the transcrystalline structure, which was similar to shish-kebab formation, involved honeycomb-like frameworks of ACC-CNFs. In addition, its crystalline growth of iPP was possibly conducted by accumulation of a two-dimensional crystalline disk.