Akagawa Imagawa

Description of Akagawa Imagawa

Akagawa Imagawa. The Imagawa were a noble military Japanese clan. The Imagawa descended from Seiwa Genji by way of the Kawachi Genji. The clan’s history can be traced back to Ashikaga Kuniuji, grandson of Ashikaga Yoshiuji. During the 13th century, he found himself in Imagawa and established himself there. He took on Imagawa for his clan. The Imagawa clan remained popular for a few centuries afterwards, but found themselves in decline by the 15th century. After the death of important clan figures such as Yoshimoto during the Battle of Okehazama in 1560, the clan began to fall apart. Members began to defect and land holdings were absorbed. Many of the land holdings were taken by the Tokugawa and Takeda clans. The Imagawa ultimately became masters of ceremonies for the Tokugawa clan.

Style Variations

Bold – Light – Outlined – Colorable
Each variation is included in the symbol’s file package.

Japan main description

Japanese Symbols

The Japanese family crests or Mons have a similar role as the English family crests. The Japanese family crest symbols, or Mons are a coat of arms used to represent families and individuals, and more recently, businesses and institutions. There is little known about the origin of these crests and the Japanese family crest symbols, but it is commonly believed that the tradition started as a fabric pattern to identify aristocratic families and individuals. It eventually evolved to being used in battles, and then became a common way of identification, even for commoners. In terms of design, there were no hard and fast rules. There seemed to be a general consensus to use a roundel that would encircle some sort of figure when designing Japanese family crest symbols. This could be a plant, a man-made shape, a natural or celestial figure as one part of it. Other mon used religious symbols, kanji, and other shapes in their design as well. The mon was also designed to be monochromatic, and colors were generally eschewed. For commoners, however, the use of the mon, or the Japanese family crest symbol was tricky. If they had none, they would either adapt the mon of their patron or organization, or failing that, used what would be considered inappropriate mons, or developed their own altogether. The usage and choice of mons came with their own rules and were largely dictated by social customs - and its usage was monitored and enforced. For example, it was considered inappropriate to use a mon or Japanese family crest symbol already in use by someone else, and especially offensive if held by someone of a higher rank. If a situation such as that occurred, the lower-ranking person would have to change their mon or Japanese family crest symbol in order to avoid any offense or wrongdoing. Mons held by the ruling Japanese clans were legally protected and could not be used by others.