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Newsletter 02/03
Japanese mon first appeared in Japan during the Heian - Fujiwara Period (785 - 1185), by the nobility as a mean of identification on the battlefield. It quickly evolved into a heraldic device, worn by the Imperial Court. The mon was used like the European crest or coat of arms, to identify retainers and belongings.
Mon are generally simple
and they incorporate a motif with symbolic connotations. Examples are the bamboo
denoting constancy and fidelity; pine, stability of character and unflinching
purpose; the crane, a thousand years of long life; the cherry blossom, bravery
and glory; the plum blossom, fortitude; and the radish, fertility. Many mon
are similar but with subtle differences; by changing the position or posture of
the motif, by drawing the motif with different emphasis, by including or
excluding parts of the motif. The mon were often varied by the addition
of a ring or a square as a frame with the most common being a ring.
The mon was displayed on kimono using the "three places, five places rule". For informal wear the mon was placed on each side of the front of the kimono and in the center of the back. Formal kimono added mon to the back of each sleeve. During the later part of the Heian Period large sleeves became very popular and often had huge mon painted on the front of the sleeve; this style of sleeve is known as montsuki.
Sometimes families or clans had many different mon that were associated with the family. But it became the practice to choose one mon that was the official symbol of the family or clan. That mon was known as the jomon or front mon and was usually the oldest or most significant of the mon used by the particular group. Any other mon used by the family was called the kaemon or back mon.
The mon
of Kase Ha Shôtôkan Ryu Karate-Dô has been selected by T. Kase sensei
and is shown below. I am absolutely sure that everybody knows it. What it is
not possibly well known is that it has the form of a hanko, (personal
seal used by Japanese together with their signature). It composed by the kanji
character Gi, meaning the right decision, rectitude, but drawn in a special way, appropriate for hanko. The
calligraphy of this kanji is also shown, so recognition is easy. The kanji
Gi comprises part of the word Giri,
meaning obligation, loyalty, duty, part of the name of the founder of
Shotokan, Funakoshi Gichin, the man of right decision, and
probably is found in the nickname of Funakoshi Yoshitaka, Giko.
The last I am not absolutely sure, since I have not see the Giko written
in Japanese and as you may know many Japanese word have same or similar sounds
but different writing, the later being the one giving the correct meaning. Last
but not least, I have heard, but not confirm it yet, that Kase sensei has chosen
this mon, because it was the hanko of Funakoshi Yoshitaka; I
transmit this information but I am not in a position today to confirm it.
Any way this the mon of Kase Ha Shôtôkan Ryu Karate-Dô and its meaning. What is important to be clearly understood is that, everyone bearing this Mon on his keikogi, our keikogi, fully honor the meaning as well the family which it indicates.