Shark skin

鮫小紋 same komon

Tiny dots in overlapping arcs that look like shark skin; an Edo-period samurai komon that reads as plain from a distance, so it suits formal or understated gifts year-round.

Edo period; Kishū Tokugawa house

One of the 'three roles' (Edo sanyaku) of Edo komon, made from stencils punched with thousands of tiny holes in arcs. It is associated with the Kishū Tokugawa family, including shōgun Tokugawa Yoshimune, as their kamishimo pattern; shark skin was also used on sword hilts, which suited a samurai house. Edo became the centre of production and same komon was the classic formal samurai komon.

Now a semi-formal kimono that can be worn with a crest in place of a plain colour.