What mokkō means
Mokkō is a motif formed of four or five rounded lobes joined into a flower-like outline, also written with other characters. It is said to depict a bird's nest seen from above and has long been used on court dress and furnishings.
It is common as a family crest, well known as that of the Oda clan. In buildings it appears on the pulls and metal fittings of sliding doors and in carvings on transoms and gateposts. Records usually refer to the shape as mokkō-gata.
Reading the records
The stone and brick walls of the former Fukumoto family house in Suo-Oshima, Yamaguchi, enclosing the estate of a trader who made his fortune as an emigrant to America, have square gateposts necked below the capital and carved with mokkō shapes. Ornament is concentrated on the gateposts at the entrance.
On site, look for a flower-like outline of four or more linked arcs; four-lobed and five-lobed forms are sometimes named separately.
References
- 旧福元家住宅石塀及び煉瓦塀｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00014208
Last verified: 2026.09.27