麻の葉 ・ あさのは ・ asanoha
Hemp leaf. A traditional geometric design of a six-pointed star created by connecting the corners of a hexagon shape. The star shape resembles a stylized hemp leaf. Since hemp grows fast and straight, the pattern is associated with vitality. The design is used both standalone or as a repeating pattern. It is not uncommon to see partial designs as part of a larger motif.
The design is often used in a repeating pattern. Repeating patterns of the design are called asanoha-tsunagi (麻の葉つなぎ) or asanoha-kuzushi (麻の葉くずし).
There are different slight variations of the basic design, find some common ones below.
- Wachigai-asanoha (輪違い麻の葉) - the regular pattern uses straight lines, whereas this pattern uses rounded lines giving it a softer appearance. Note that although the pattern slightly resembles the shippou pattern it does not contain any circles.
- Kawari-asanoha (変わり麻の葉) - Strange hemp leaf pattern, in this pattern the straight lines are replaced with something else. A common version replaces the lines with zigzag (lightning bolt-like) lines. There are also versions that replace all the lines with wriggly lines (starfish-like) or some lines with slightly angled curved lines (flower-like) creating more organic shapes.
- Kasane-asanoha (重ね麻の葉) - in this dizzying pattern each piece of the star is filled with a (repeating) lozenge/diamond shape instead of a connecting line, creating the illusion of a repeating pattern of cubes.