What are traditional Japanese patterns?
In Japan, there are many traditional patterns that have been familiar since ancient times and have been used on various items such as clothing and furnishings.
Originally influenced by Chinese culture from the Asuka period to the Nara period, Japan's own interpretations and designs eventually emerged, creating a rich variety.
Patterns depicting familiar plants and animals, as well as motifs considered auspicious, include wishes for health and prosperity.
Objects decorated with such patterns must have brought peace of mind and pleasure to people's daily lives in the past.
We will gradually introduce traditional Japanese patterns that have never faded away and continue to color our daily lives.
The fourth is about "hemp leaf pattern".
What kind of pattern is the hemp leaf pattern? Why is it auspicious?
The hemp leaf pattern is a pattern based on a regular hexagon with six equal rhombuses. It is so called because of its resemblance to the shape of hemp leaves.
These are connected back and forth, left and right in a continuous pattern and were used as patterns for kimono and obi.
Below is an ukiyoe of "Yaoya Oshichi," a depiction of a grocer's daughter in the Edo period.
The small dots shown are "hemp leaf kanoko," one of the variations of the hemp leaf pattern. The hemp leaf pattern was popular among girls in Edo, and this "hemp leaf kanoko" was especially popular among them.
Hemp leaves are very tough, fast-growing plants that grow straight up.
Therefore, the hemp leaf pattern was used on baby clothes and kimonos as a pattern to wish for the healthy growth of one's own child.
Crafts designed with hemp leaf pattern
This pattern is often used in traditional Japanese crafts. For your reference, here are some of the pieces we carry at Takumi Japan.
Fan, 45 ribs, Short cloth, Ise katagami, Hemp-leaf pattern-Kyoto folding fans
10 tricks, Red hemp leaf pattern, 5-sun size- Hakone wood mosaic
Octagon candy container, Small parquet pattern- Hakone wood mosaic
This is also a Hakone wood mosaic, but it is a "small parquet" design with different patterns diagonally separated. In this piece you can see two kinds of hemp leaf patterns.
Choose hemp leaf pattern for the healthy growth of children
If you look closely, the hemp leaf pattern is also a collection of triangles. Since triangles are meant to ward off evil, the hemp leaf pattern was also thought to have the power to ward off evil.
Parents protect their children from bad things, wish them healthy growth, and pray for good luck. Parents feel the same way today as they did in the past.
Why not choose an item with a hemp leaf pattern as a birthday gift for your own child, or for the child of a relative or close friend?
By the way, the kimono worn by Nezuko, the sister of Tanjirou Komado, the main character in the worldwide popular manga "Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba)" had a hemp leaf pattern. I wonder if the author put some kind of thought into this pattern.
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