Snow, Wave, Pine ― Traditional Patterns in Japanese Design

An important, but often overlooked, part of the world of Japanese arts and crafts is the array of beautiful, stylized motifs that have traditionally been used to decorate a huge range of objects. Snow, Wave, Pine takes a close look at some of the most classic of those patterns, enabling the reader to recognize and appreciate these motifs wherever they appear, and providing inspiration to anyone interested in design or arts and crafts.
The first half of the book introduces seventy-five important patterns, as depicted on a variety of objects.
The second half of the book shows a rich and dynamic selection of more than one thousand family crests.
Illustrated with over 450 color plates, and with text and photos alike by experts in the traditional Japanese arts, Snow, Wave, Pine is a treasure-house of information for anyone interested in design forms or in Japanese culture.

SADAO HIBI is one of Japan's best-known photographers. He has published some thirty books in Japanese in the field of traditional arts over the last two and a half decades. Among his English publications are The Colors of Japan, Infinite Spaces: The Art and Wisdom of the Japanese Garden, Japanese Detail: Architecture, Japanese Detail: Cuisine, and Japanese Detail: Fashion.

MOTOJI NIWA has spent a lifetime researching family names, place names, and family crests. He has written more than eighty titles in Japanese, among them Family Names, Family Lines, Shrine Crests, Temple Crests, On Graves, and The Origin and Beauty of Family Crests.