Plover

千鳥 chidori

Flocks of plovers flying over waves suggest a couple or family overcoming life's rough seas together; the name punningly reads "to obtain a thousand", so it is also a wish for success.

Heian period (from the 10th century), Japanese court poetry and crafts

Plovers appear on textiles, lacquer, metalwork and decorated paper from the 10th century. Their cry was heard as chiyo, a homonym for 'a thousand generations', so waka poets from the Kokinshū (early 10th century) onward linked them with long life. In the Momoyama and early Edo periods the bird was simplified into the almost abstract little shape still used today, often over waves or a sandbar (suhama).

A winter seasonal word in haiku, yet plovers over waves are also a favourite cool motif on summer yukata and tenugui.