Information:
"Koumori-mon (Bat pattern)" is an original chiyogami design featuring bats. One of the characters used to write the word "bat" in Chinese is a homonym with a similar character meaning "happiness." Based on this pun, bats came to be known in China as a symbol of joy or good fortune. There are yellow, green, and blue versions available for download.
Chiyogami had its beginnings in Kyoto during the Edo period
(1603 - 1867). It began with flowers, birds, and other patterns
from nature, popular subjects in the Yuzen* patterns, drawn
onto Japanese paper. Such paper came to be printed using the woodblock
printing technology of Edo (present-day Tokyo), and incorporated
other patterns used in colored prints of the day. The paper soon
became popular throughout Japan.
*Yuzen: Japanese traditional dyeing technique that originated
in the 8th century created by painter Yuzen Miyazaki. |
