Hishi | diamonds
This is an interesting pattern, as it is said to originate from the shape of the leaf or fruit of the trapa japonica flower, or a type of Japanese water chestnut, and not from diamonds that form within the Earth.
Red and white hishi pattern with folding fans inside each diamond.
As there is not much recorded history of Japan until more recent years, the exact origin of this pattern is unknown. Another explanation is that it originated from the bark of trees. There is no specific meaning of the diamond pattern, so it is generally used and remixed in many more ways than other traditional patterns.
Black background with abstract and geometric hishi pattern. This resembles the appearance of a single Japanese water chestnut plant in water.
The most common form of this pattern is a simple four-sided diamond shape, although a twelve-sided zigzag shape is also used. Sometimes flowers, usually chrysanthemums, or birds, usually herons, will be diamond-shaped as an abstraction of the hishi pattern.
Hishi geometric pattern woven in the tsumugi style.
It is also common for flowers, Japanese landscapes, animals, plants, and other repeating patterns to be placed within these diamonds.
Red and black flowers form an abstract hishi pattern.
This is what the leaves of the trapa japonica look like. You can see that this looks like one of the images above.
Trapa japonica plants in water, with spaces between them, revealing a unique geometric shape that resembles a flower.
This image was uploaded by Eggmoon on Wikipedia, with (CC BY-SA 3.0).
While it can be difficult to find specific information about this plant in English, you can refer to the Japanese Wikipedia page for some photos and more information about it.
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%92%E3%82%B7
Find all of our posts on kimono patterns by clicking here.
