Hanabishi (花菱)

Hanabishi is a type of hanabishi-mon (a crest that represents the head of the Takeda family and the military governor of Kai Province) which is used as a family crest in Japan. In particular, it refers to the rhomboidal arrangement of four karahana (a type of Chinese arabesque pattern) petals. It is also called Karahanabishi.

Summary

The name hanabishi originates from the arrangement of four hishi-like (water chestnut-like) leaves as petals into a flower.

Hanabishi is a repeated pattern introduced from the (Asian) continent.
During the Heian period, it was used as a yusoku monyo (traditional design motifs of court nobles) for furnishing goods and costumes of court nobles
It is said that hanabishi was first used as a family crest by the Kai-Takeda clan, and Takeda hanabishi, which has a standard design, was used as the official family crest of the Takeda family, just like Takedabishi.

Incidentally, there are several companies that use "hanabishi" as their yago (trade name) in Japan. The hanabishi pattern is also used to decorate metal fittings on Japanese furniture.

Design

Various patterns are derived from hanabishi, such as "ken hanabishi," which is a hanabishi pattern combined with swords, "maru ni hanabishi," which is a hanabishi pattern placed in a circular frame, "kikko hanabishi," which is a hanabishi pattern placed in a hexagonal frame, and "hanakaku,' which is a square-shaped hanabishi pattern.

[Original Japanese]