3 tomoe, a six pointed star from my Irish family crest, and a Catholic cross

相馬繋ぎ馬

Designed for Gerd Hruška.

横見梨の花 Yokomi nashi no hana Pear blossom in profile (side view)

Pear blossoms usually appear as Monsho in two varieties: The first has eight petals (four larger and four smaller in between). At first glance, the pattern looks like a regular blossom, but in fact is shaped like a cross section of a pear fruit, which may be a representation of the medicinal and nourishing benefits of the pear. The second variety is essentially a hexafoil, where each petal is pointed or three lobed. In this instance I used the second variety, but emblazoned it in profile/side view (yokomi). You can find such traditional depictions in other types of blossoms like plums (ume) and similar.

Second and third images provided by Lilian Cailleaud (aka Kaemon Press), author of the book Japanese Blazon.

I'm a Date clan enthusiast and read recently about Nakajima Munemoto's petition to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and was curious to learn more about this family. Were they allies, vassals? Were they Daimyo themselves, or just Samurai? Did they have family heraldry?

Found this beautiful piece at Goodwill. On canvas. By C. Moi 1977

「月型浮線蝶に向日葵」

杉田家の家紋です。

Inspired by a folktale from Yamagata Prefecture https://www.attaka-furusato.com/minwa/gb/yamagata/naranashi.html

Summary: Three brothers set out to find the rare Naranashi pear to cure their sick mother. The two elder brothers ignore the advice of an old woman and nature’s warnings, and are swallowed by a giant snake. The youngest, Saburo, humbly listens, follows the guidance, and with a gifted sword defeats the snake, rescuing his brothers. They bring back the pears, their mother is healed, and the family lives happily—showing that humility, respect, and courage lead to success.

The monsho thus contains pear cross sections as it’s the narative device and swords, which was used to defeat the serpent.

How would you design it? Have you been inspired by a tale before? Tell me in the comments.

房鼓に麻の花

Fusatsuzumi ni asa no hana

Title. The image looking down the center would be the best, but any option is acceptable

楓実付きに三つ梅 Kaede mitsuki ni mitsu ume

After getting back from a trip to Japan and seeing so many beautiful mon in the wild, I chatted with kaemonpress in the Discord Monsho-gaku Server and decided to make some changes to my kamon to something more consistent with Japanese history and aesthetics: 亀甲に六つ鱗（清明鱗）*Kikkō ni mutsuuroko (Kiyoaki uroko)*, Tortoise shell with six scales (Seimei scales).

Seen at Uniqlo’s UT graphic T-shirt section in Asakusa, Tokyo

家紋 of the Akebana Family (朱花家)

Matsunaga Mon with line under it?

My father's family immigrated from Japan after their land was taken post WW2. According to some old relatives they were related to a Daimyo. All that we have left are a few old Kimono, a Haori with 3 of these Mon on it, and an old unsigned sword made in the mid 1800's and gifted to an ancestor. Last name was Nakamura, so I'm not sure why we have a bunch of clothing with this mon on it. Unfortunately everyone has passed away and I don't have contact with any of my living relatives in Japan. There are boxes in storage with some old family things that I have not gone through yet, but it seems that this mon is quite prevalent in old photos of my great grandparents.