麻の葉 Asanoha / Hemp Leaf
"Asanoha (hemp leaf)" is one of the most popular Japanese traditional patterns. This pattern was named Asanoha because the shape literally looks like a hemp leaf. In spite of its name, however, the pattern did not borrow motif from a plant. It is a geometric design with six diamond-shaped patterns arranged in a radial manner. Identifying the hemp which grows well with the growth of a baby, the pattern has been often used for swaddling clothes.
"My aunt, who is an organized person, again, took out from the bottom of her old wicker basket the kimono made of cotton dyed with rosy color and that with Asanoha patterns, which she has been keeping since she lived in the country, and gazed at them." Tokuda Shusei - Ashiato (1910)
