01
Where it comes from
Wisteria hangs in long clusters of pale purple, swaying in the spring wind like waves. Long ago people were drawn less to its flowers than to its strong vine, which winds around what it meets and keeps reaching on. Wisteria twined around an evergreen pine is said to carry a wish to live on and on beside it. Wisteria was loved at court, and it has long been drawn hanging from above, or bent into round crests.
02
On the cloth
On obi, wisteria may fall in long clusters from the top of the cloth, or curl into round crests. Here it sits inside tortoise-shell hexagons with chrysanthemum, on black in vermilion, gold, and silver white.
03
To give
Wisteria suits a spring birthday, a wedding, or a long friendship. It is a gift for someone whose ties with you, you hope, will keep deepening.
A word to keep
藤波
fujinami
Wisteria waves. An old word, found in the Man'yōshū, for clusters of wisteria swaying in the wind.
Two questions
What does the Wisteria (藤) pattern mean?
A wish for a long life, and ties that grow deep. Wisteria suits a spring birthday, a wedding, or a long friendship.
Where does the 藤 pattern come from?
Wisteria hangs in long clusters of pale purple, swaying in the spring wind like waves. Long ago people were drawn less to its flowers than to its strong vine, which winds around what it meets and keeps reaching on.
