青海波・せいがいは・saigaiha
Wave pattern. A traditional design featuring stylized waves made up of a repeating pattern of overlapping half circles. It is said that the repeating pattern symbolizes eternal peace. In the most common designs the half circles themselves are filled with a ripple pattern of half circles.
Similar patterns exist in different cultures all over the world. The Japanese version is likely named after a traditional dance song that features dancers wearing costumes that are decorated with similar repeating patterns.
Many different designs based on the pattern exist.
- Kikusaigaiha (菊青海波) - a design that used overlapping stylized chrysanthemums (kiku) to create the pattern. The shapes resemble stacked shells.
- Yaburesaigaiha (破れ青海波) - Broken saigaiha, part of the repeating pattern is missing (only the outline of the shape is shown).
- Matsusaigaiha (松青海波) - a design that combines a stylized matsu shape with the round wave shape.
- Kumosaigaiha (雲青海波) - a combination of sharp waves with a stylized symmetrical cloud shape above.
- Hishisaigaiha (菱青海波) - two versions of this design exist. One version changes the round shape with a square diamond (hishi) shape filled with shrinking diamonds, creating a pattern of stacked diamonds. The second variant places a small hishi shape in some of the simplified round waves.