Axe and harp - Good things and good things

Japanese: 斧琴菊文 - よきこときくもん

A riddle pattern that was popular during the Edo period. It depicts an axe (yoki), a koto (harp), and a chrysanthemum, and is a play on the phrase "listen to good things." It was used as a pattern for kosode (short sleeved kimono) from the early Edo period, but became popular after the Bunka era (1804-18), as the humorous book Ukiyoburo states, "An old pattern that means to listen to good things. A new style of yukata with mysterious dyeing." Later, this pattern was also adopted for the kabuki costumes of Onoe Kikugoro III. It is thought that Kikugoro III, who took the stage name in 1815, probably adopted it in reference to the chrysanthemum in his stage name, and in response to Ichikawa Danjūrō's "kamawanu pattern," which was popular at the time.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

江戸時代に流行した判じ物文様。斧（よき）と琴と菊を表して〈良きことを聞く〉にかけたもの。江戸前期から小袖の文様に使われたが，滑稽本《浮世風呂》に〈よきことをきくといふ昔模様。謎染の新形浴衣（ゆかた）〉とあるように，文化年間(1804‐18)以降流行をみた。またのちにこの文様は尾上菊五郎の歌舞伎衣装にも採用された。おそらく1815年に襲名した3世菊五郎がその芸名の菊にちなみ，また当時流行していた市川団十郎の〈鎌輪奴（かまわぬ）文〉にはり合って取り入れたものと思われる。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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