Great inspirations often come from the past: in Japan during the Edo period (1603-1868) and the Taisho period (1912-1926) good luck symbols or amulet stitches called semamori (背守り) were often embroidered on the back of baby's clothing, including children's kimonos.
These decorative symbols varied, going from auspicious ones like the crane that indicates longevity, to a fan or pine trees, paulownia flowers and the genji ko, a marker in the incense memory game. Also the colours chosen for the embroideries, with red or white (good luck colours in Japan) prevailing, were symbolical.
The embroidered motifs had one main purpose - protecting the wearer. Semamori means indeed "to protect the back" as it was believed that the devil came from behind a person.
It is always nice to rediscover a tradition, but in this case it would be interesting to reinvent the stitched amulets into decorative and symbolical codes for a proper fashion collection, maybe accompanied by its own book of embroidered motifs
If you like the idea of semamori, you can explore this fascinating tradition via anonymous sample books that often feature a wide range of embroideries. Though rare, it is still possible to find such books and Tatami Antiques, an independent online marketplace for Japanese antiquities, has currently got a couple of semamori volumes on sale via one of its dealers, Sezuan antiques & art.
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