Maru ni Igeta Luggage Tag

The character '井' (i) means 'well.' Igeta refers to a wooden frame in the shape of the character '井' that surrounds the above-ground part of a well, while a circular shape is called 'izutsu.' However, in family crests, a square shape came to be called 'izutsu,' and a diamond shape 'igeta.' Since ancient times, a place where water springs forth to quench thirst and sustain life has been considered a dwelling place for spirits and a place to enshrine the gods. As a pattern, it was likely used based on such religious significance. The first recorded appearance of this crest is in 'Kenmon Shoka Mon,' where the Ii clan's crest is the 'i' character crest, which likely evolved into the 'izutsu' crest for the Ii family. Similarly, families with the character '井' in their surname increasingly adopted it as their family crest (according to 'Kamon no Jiten' by Takazawa et al.).