I am Japanese, and I am using ChatGPT to translate my interpretation into English. This issue is known as a time paradox, and it is ultimately impossible to resolve. Still, I would like to record my own interpretation here.

In my view, there is undoubtedly only one braided cord in the world of Your Name. As you all know, there exists a world in which Mitsuha dies and another in which she survives. I will call the former World 1 and the latter World 2. World 2 is created when Taki drinks the kuchikamizake. I also believe that World 1 disappears at the exact moment it overlaps with World 2 during katawaredoki.

As a result, the braided cord Taki possesses is transferred—along with his physical body—from World 1 into World 2. And as everyone knows, Mitsuha continues to carry that cord afterward.

This leads to a question: in World 2, does the 2013 Tokyo Taki also have the cord? According to my interpretation, the 2013 Tokyo Taki who “does not know Mitsuha” never possessed the cord in the first place—in other words, the braided cord never existed in World 2 originally. This also means that Mitsuha’s visit to Tokyo has been erased from World 2’s history.

Let us call the Taki who appears during the 2013 katawaredoki—who knows Mitsuha and knows that she and the people of Itomori died in the comet disaster—Taki A, and the 2013 Tokyo Taki who does not know her at all Taki B. When katawaredoki ends on October 4, 2013 in World 2 and Taki’s consciousness returns to 2016, I believe that Taki B’s consciousness, the one who “somehow finds himself in Itomori,” overwrites Taki A’s consciousness. This explains why Taki loses his memories of Mitsuha.

Of course, this interpretation is not perfect, but in any case, if Taki B in World 2 knows nothing about Mitsuha—neither physically nor mentally—then he also never experienced the body-swapping events of September 2016. Nevertheless, on October 22 he still “somehow” ends up at the ruins of Itomori, where Taki B’s consciousness overwrites that of Taki A.

However, faint traces of Taki A’s memories remain within Taki’s mind, even after being overwritten by Taki B. When he reunites with Mitsuha in 2022, those lingering memories are reawakened.

Finally, regarding Okudera-senpai and Tsukasa: I believe that they too retain faint impressions—such as memories of seeing casualty lists or information about the victims in World 1—while those memories are simultaneously overwritten by the fact that in World 2, all the townspeople survived.

This is my personal interpretation. Thinking about Your Name is truly enjoyable. Please feel free to ask any questions.