M010 - Take Sasa 竹笹

Menuki with bamboo pattern Sasa, Bamboo grass. (竹笹)

Menuki Omote: 38.5mm length, 14mm width, 3mm height

Menuki Ura: 38.5mm length, 13mm width, 3.5mm height

The Take Sasa represents a species of bamboo, the Sasa 笹, a rather short species that can reach 2 meters at the maximum, with large and broad leaves. Due to their size, they are also called 'Bamboo dwarfs'.
The Sasa are considered since ancient times as sacred plants. They are used as family coats of arms for its auspicious meaning. It is also an emblem associated with the Shinto rituals and the Imperial court.
The Sasa was used Kamon (coat of arms) by one of the 4 oldest clans in Japan, the Minamoto 源. The term Minamoto was an honorific name given by the emperors of the Heian period (794-1185) to their sons and grandchildren.
The emblem is also associated with Shinto rituals and the imperial court, with the imperial family described as “bamboo gardeners”

Sasa bamboos are used during the Tanabata festival or at New Year's Eve, as talismans against evil spells and spirits. Tanzaku are also attached and written on.