THE MEANINGS WOVEN IN
業平菱
narihirabishi
A wish for thoughts that cross, even far apart, to open into flower.
Triple Lattice Diamond
Bonds that hold →01
Where it comes from
Three lines, thicker in the middle, cross on the slant to form a diamond, and inside it sits a four-petaled flower diamond. It closely resembles mie-dasuki, a triple lattice of court dress, and is thought to have grown from it. The name comes from a Heian poet, and is said to have spread after the pattern was used on a robe in a Noh play. It is also called narihira-gōshi.
02
On the cloth
In Noh, the pattern has been set on a chōken, a light dance robe worn as the keepsake robe of someone who has died. It was likely chosen because the triple lattice had been the set pattern of summer court robes. In the late Edo period a kabuki actor took to it, and it became a hugely popular pattern for summer yukata.
03
To give
Narihirabishi suits someone who holds a person in mind across distance or time. It is for a friendship or a love that stays, even apart.
A word to keep
形見
katami
Something left behind by a person who has gone, kept to remember them by.
Two questions
What wish can the Triple Lattice Diamond (業平菱) pattern carry?
A wish for thoughts that cross, even far apart, to open into flower. Narihirabishi suits someone who holds a person in mind across distance or time.
Where does the 業平菱 pattern come from?
Three lines, thicker in the middle, cross on the slant to form a diamond, and inside it sits a four-petaled flower diamond. It closely resembles mie-dasuki, a triple lattice of court dress, and is thought to have grown from it.
