Onna-Mon —Kamon for Women—
How women’s identity design was born and survives in Japan
Today, not a single day has passed without seeing Feminism related articles, books, TV programs, etc. It is not just a trendy movement but a proof that a basic wish — having same rights regardless of gender— have not came true yet, even now in 2022.
Japan, 116th country in Global Gender Gap Report 2022, is the only one country where married couple must have SAME surname. And, most of the time, women change their surname. In other words, Japanese women lose their family identity when they get married.
However, there had been another identity system in Japan: Kamon —Japanese traditional family crest. In the previous article, we saw that Kamon was for every category of citizens, but gender was not mentioned. So today, let’s see how it works for women.
Short review of Kamon
Kamon is Japanese traditional symbol to identify an individual or family. Kamon is written 家紋 in kanji. 家 [ka] means “family” and 紋 [mon] means “symbol”, “mark”, or “motif”. Simply said, it is like family crest in western countries. Kamon began to be used at Heian period (794–1185), when aristocratic class used motifs to decorate and to identify their bullock carts. After that period, samurai appeared and started to use Kamon to distinguish among allies and enemies in the battle. However, since there were few battles during the Edo period (1603–1868), the role of Kamon was changed: symbol of family.
Origins of Onna-Mon
In the middle of the Edo period, women of 武家 Buke (samurai family) started to use Kamon on their possessions when they got married. At the time, there was a sentence in the law: if husband take out and lose wife’s possession without her permission, he can not divorce with her. To avoid divorcing or selling their possessions after their divorce, women had to clearly distinguish between her possessions and the ones from the family she married into.
6 types of Onna-Mon
Apparently Onna-Mon is not just about motifs or designs used for women, but also about how women inherited and used their own Kamon. Though it was almost same time that Onna-Mon started to be used, customs in east and west of Japan were different. It led to the birth of various types of Onna-Mon.
1. 実家の紋 Jikka-no-Mon
武家文化 Buke-bunka (samurai culture) was major in the east. Women of Buke started to use 実家の紋 Jikka-no-Mon (parents’ Mon) when they got married. Jikka-no-Mon is used on their possession but is not inherited by daughter.
2. 母系紋 Bokei-Mon
On the other hand, 庶民文化 Shomin-bunka — culture of 商家 Shō-ke (merchant family) and 庶民 Shomin (ordinary people)— was flourishing in the west. Men of Shō-ke normally left home and started their own business, thus women inherited home, which led to the beginning of 母系紋 Bokei-Mon (matrilineal Mon). Bokei-Mon is inherited from mother to daughter, daughter to grand daughter.
3. 替え紋 Kae-Mon
Some strong families could have multiple Mon. Their official Kamon is called 定紋 Jō-Mon. Jō-Mon were considered like surnames, thus officially registered. Mon except Jō-Mon is called 替え紋 Kae-Mon (alternative Mon) which was used in unofficial occasions, including women’s usage. Kae-Mon works like surname: women inherit Kae-Mon of the family they marry into. So sometimes it was called Shūtome-Mon (Mon of mother-in-law).
4. 通紋 Tsū-Mon
It was from late Edo period to Meiji period (1868–1912) that Onna-Mon became popular even among ordinary people. While starting using western-style clothes, Kimono became more of a formal dress on which women printed their Onna-Mon. However, some ladies didn’t have their own Mon, so Kimono merchants suggested to use Mons which anyone could use — 通紋 Tsū-Mon. Below these are the most popular Tsū-Mons.
5. 私紋 Watakushi-Mon
Like today’s fashionistas seek their own styles, some women at that time also wanted their original one. As the pronoun 私 watakushi (I, me) indicates, 私紋 Watakushi-Mon means literally “my own Kamon”. Below, for instance, Mrs. A’s Kamon is 丸に違い鷹の羽 Maru-ni-chigai-takanoha (Crossed Hawk feathers in a circle) and her Onna-Mon is 揚羽蝶 Ageha-chō (Swallowtail butterfly). Both are not that unique so she asked Kimono merchants and they made 鷹の羽蝶 Takanoha-chō (Hawk feathers butterfly).
6. アレンジ紋 Arranged Mon
武家 Buke (samurai family) often had katana or arrow motifs in their Kamon, which are not suitable for women. Also, originally a circle around Mon represents “territory of men”. So unsuitable parts of the Mon were simply removed for women.
Onna-Mon is surviving
Though it had been widely used, as westernization progressed, it became rare to see Kamon in everyday use. However, while almost every man wears suits as mourning clothes, some women (mostly elders) wear 黒紋付 Kuromontsuki (black kimono with Mon) at funeral. It has five Mon — two on the chest, one on each arm, and one on the back collar. The Mon on the back is considered a charm against evil that could approach from behind, as if ancestors were protecting women.
It is difficult to predict how Onna-Mon will look like in future. As Kamon became widely known, Onna-Mon is also worth introducing to the world, specially now. But as the principal of gender equality suggests, it maybe better that Onna-Mon and Otoko-Mon will not be distinguished in someday. What’s wrong about women’s using katana, or men’s Kamon with butterfly? Identity design should be done regardless of gender, right?
Related article > Kamon — Japanese Traditional Identity Design
References:
-Onna-Mon by Keiichi Morimoto (Japanese)
