For other uses, see Tomoe (disambiguation).
A tomoe or tomoye (archaic) (巴) is a Japanese abstract shape (i.e. a swirl) that resembles a comma or the usual form of magatama. It is a common design element in Japanese family emblems (家紋 kamon) and corporate logos, particularly in triplicate whorls known as mitsu tomoe. One mitsu tomoe variant, the Hidari Gomon, is the traditional symbol of Okinawa.
The tomoe is very similar in design to the Korean sam-taegeuk, Tibetan Gankyil or Chinese yin/yang symbols.
On the opposite side of Eurasia, the Basque lauburu and some forms of the Celtic spiral triskele resemble small groups of tomoe.
In popular culture
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- The snowboarding company Burton uses the tomoye for its Ronin outerwear.
- The tomoe appear on the Raijin-like drums of the One Piece villain Enel.
- They appear in the 'Sharingan' eyes of the fictional Uchiha clan in the Japanese anime Naruto, with the number (up to 3) indicating the level to which the eye has developed. They also form the Cursed Seal of Heaven which Orochimaru put on Sasuke Uchiha and Anko Mitarashi.
- In My-HiME, Mai Tokiha's weapon is four Tomoe-like bracelets that circle around her wrists and ankles, giving her the ability to fly and to launch fire-based attacks.
- In the visual novel, Tsukihime, Shiki Tohno's knife has a tomoe design.
- In the anime series My-Otome, a character named Tomoe Marguerite is named after the tomoe.
- There is also one which appears on a child's toy in a later episode of the anime series Samurai Champloo.
- Also appears on the shoulders of Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave bass player Tim Commerford.
- In the anime Bleach it appears on one of the lower classed soul reapers, who faced off against Chad who defeated him easily. It's located on the left shoulder.
- Metal band Trivium, whose frontman Matt Heafy is half-Japanese, have used the Tomoe as a logo/symbol.
- The Mitsudomoe appears as the main symbol of the MMO Tabula Rasa.
- In the anime Gintama, Kagura's pet Sadaharu has tomoe shaped eyebrows.
- Defunct comic book publisher CrossGen used a futatsudomoe as their logo, and also as a sigil of power within many of their comic titles.
- In Osamu Tezuka's graphic novel, MW, there is a killer female dog named Tomoe.
- In the Playstation 2 game Persona 4, Chie Satonaka's Persona is named Tomoe. Tomoe wields a double-bladed spear with resemblance to a futatsudomoe.
- In the Tokusatsu series Kamen Rider Hibiki the oni riders emblem is shaped like an mitsudomoe.
- In the manga/anime Rurouni Kenshin, Himura Kenshin was married, and later killed a character named Tomoe. Her death is also the cause of the ending plot point.
- In the game Undefined Fantastic Object, the character Nue Houjuu have a tomoe drawn in her clothes
See also
External links
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