Short answer: the best known traditional Japanese patterns are seigaiha (waves), asanoha (hemp leaf), shippo (seven treasures), ichimatsu (checks), uroko (scales), kikko (tortoise shell), kagome (basket weave) and yagasuri (arrow feathers). Each is called a wagara, and each carries a wish: good fortune, healthy growth, harmony, long life or protection from bad luck.
The patterns go back centuries on kimono, obi, ceramics and paper, and most began in China or in Japan's court arts before townspeople took them up in the Edo period. Below, each pattern with its name in Japanese, what it looks like and what it means, plus a swatch you can use.
Many of the same shapes appear in kamon, Japanese family crests.
The eight patterns at a glance
| Pattern | Japanese | Means | Wish it carries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seigaiha | 青海波 | blue sea waves | Calm, steady good fortune that keeps coming like the tide |
| Asanoha | 麻の葉 | hemp leaf | Healthy growth |
| Shippo | 七宝 | seven treasures | Harmony and connections without end |
| Ichimatsu | 市松 | checks | Continuity and prosperity, since the squares can carry on in every direction |
| Uroko | 鱗 | scales | Protection |
| Kikko | 亀甲 | tortoise shell | Long life |
| Kagome | 籠目 | basket eyes | Protection from evil |
| Yagasuri | 矢絣 | arrow feathers | Resolve and no turning back |
The patterns, one by one
Seigaiha (青海波): blue sea waves
What it looks like: Overlapping rings of half circles, row over row, like waves running to the horizon.
What it means: Calm, steady good fortune that keeps coming like the tide. The name comes from a gagaku court dance, Seigaiha, whose dancers wore the pattern.
Asanoha (麻の葉): hemp leaf
What it looks like: Six-pointed stars built from triangles, each split by lines to its centre.
What it means: Healthy growth. Hemp grows tall and straight fast, so the pattern was sewn into babies' and children's clothes, and it was also thought to keep bad luck away.
Shippo (七宝): seven treasures
What it looks like: Circles that overlap so each one passes through the centres of its neighbours, leaving four-petal shapes.
What it means: Harmony and connections without end. The name refers to the seven treasures of Buddhist scripture, and the linked circles stand for good relations that never break.
Ichimatsu (市松): checks
What it looks like: A checkerboard of two alternating colours.
What it means: Continuity and prosperity, since the squares can carry on in every direction. It is named after Sanogawa Ichimatsu, an 18th-century kabuki actor who wore hakama in this check, and it shaped the Tokyo 2020 emblem.
Uroko (鱗): scales
What it looks like: Rows of triangles, alternately filled.
What it means: Protection. The triangles read as the scales of a snake or dragon, and the pattern was worn as a charm against bad luck. A snake sheds its skin, so it also stands for renewal.
Kikko (亀甲): tortoise shell
What it looks like: Hexagons that tile like the plates of a shell, often with a smaller hexagon inside.
What it means: Long life. In Japan the tortoise is said to live ten thousand years, so the pattern is a wish for longevity.
Kagome (籠目): basket eyes
What it looks like: The weave of a bamboo basket, where three sets of strips cross and form six-pointed stars.
What it means: Protection from evil. The star-shaped gaps were believed to keep bad spirits out, and the pattern was hung over doorways for the same reason.
Yagasuri (矢絣): arrow feathers
What it looks like: Columns of chevrons, like the fletching of arrows.
What it means: Resolve and no turning back. An arrow does not return once fired, so the pattern was given to brides leaving home. It was also the school kimono of Meiji and Taisho era girls, worn with hakama, a look still seen at graduations.
Use these images
We drew all eight swatches ourselves. You are free to use them on your website, blog, presentation or classroom handout, with a credit link to amajiclothing.com. Something like "Pattern image: Amaji" with the link is enough. Right-click any image to save it at 1200 by 800 pixels.
Where you see them on clothing
On a kimono the pattern often says who should wear it and when. Asanoha shows up on children's clothes, yagasuri on students' kimono worn with hakama, and seigaiha and kikko on festive pieces. Men's garments lean on smaller, quieter versions, or on solid indigo, as on a noragi mended with sashiko stitching.
For the garments themselves, read our guide to the men's kimono and the glossary of traditional Japanese clothing. The kimono-cut pieces we sell are in kimono jackets and haori.