What is a Nafudakake?

What is a Nafudakake? 
The Nafudakake is a frame of wooden name tags of members of a Dojo.

You will see many variants throughout Japan using either a frame or pegs and hooks.
Most are usually basic in construction and the Nafuda are reused by sanding down and writing the name of a new member over the top.

They are hung, in order of their rank, from right to left.
The Nafuda represent the “connection” between the Dojo and the student and symbolises that the individual is a valued member of the Dojo.

The order by which the ranks and member Nafuda are displayed is simple.
Newer students are displayed on the bottom left, no matter how big the rack is.
As they progress in rank, their Nafuda moves to the next rank category to the right.
Once the Nafuda cannot go any further right, it moves up to the next level, again starting from the left and moving towards the right.
This represents the ascension in rank and skills that the student acquires through hard training.

The Nafudakake is also used to indicate the rank and status of the students who train in the Dojo.
The rack separates each Kyu and Dan level, Sato Saibsu can also add the colour of the belt as a background to the English translation of the grade.
Some dojo will have a separate Nafudakake just for Dan grades to mark their achievements through many years of study.
Members track their own development within the dojo using the Nafudakake which has served as a source of motivation and created a strong sense of bond among members.
The rebate in the head of the frame is deeper than the cill, so an individual Nafuda can be simply slid up and then can be lifted out for re-positioning.

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