From 1185 to 1868, Japan was ruled by “shoguns” — military leaders appointed by the emperor — and feudal lords called “daimyo,” who owned large tracts of ancestral land. Daimyo were required to maintain residences in Edo (Tokyo) near the shogun’s palace, traveling annually to and from their estates under the protection of their samurai military retainers.
During travel and in battle, hundreds of samurai in each company displayed small banners, or “sashimono,” to identify their allegiance and impress adversaries. The banners were marked with their daimyo’s clan emblem and were worn attached to the back of a samurai’s armor. A senior samurai was tasked with ensuring all banners, standards and devices were properly displayed.
The emblem on this 16th-century banner belongs to the powerful Ogasawara clan, who were influential in the development of martial arts and tea ceremony etiquette. The motif is a stacked lozenge form known as “mitsubishi” or “sangaibishi,” which literally means “three water chestnuts.”
The banner was hand woven from silk in the standard width for Japanese textiles — 40 centimeters or nearly 16 inches. It was skillfully dyed using a complex tie-resist technique and may have originally been a bold red (dyed with safflower) and gradually faded to orange. Hundreds of years after its creation, needle and thread marks from the process remain visible.
