Japanese Weaves
I was going to delve into research of the background, names and pronunciations of the various Japanese chain weaves, but after some searching, I have found someone else who has already done the work better than I could. His name is John Groseclose, and he has given me permission to reproduce his text (in its entirety) here. Also, be sure to visit John's Site.
I will leave you with the version that was posted on my old site (Quite poor and incomplete compared to John's). Here, with out-dated graphics and all, is the text I wrote almost two year ago on the subject of japanese weaves:
The Japanese 6-in-1 style bears no resemblance to the normal European 4-in-1 standard. One of the main distinguishing points of this unique style is the fact that alternating rings would cause a striking sword to be caught instead of sliding off. For this reason, the maille is primarily ornamental in nature. It does, however, make for stunning ornament.
Notice that the rings which appear to be perpendicular to the plane of the screen are not, in fact, connected to six other links. Some have interpreted this as a weakness to the style. This can, however, be overcome by simply doubling up those links.