http://www.shirofan.com/shiro/toukai/okaza...624_IMG_psd.jpg


What does this one mean? I've seen it in stone and on various Japanese swords. What appears to be a variation of it appears on the bride's sword in Kill Bill.

Seems to be a family crest of some sort.

Yeah, that's not a Japanese symbol. It is most likely a crest of sorts, like Decepticon said above.

-Turbine

The symbol bears close resemblance to the Tokugawa family crest, with its 3 leaves in a circle, but I do not know why it is used on the sword in Kill Bill.

Here's a sword on Ebay that has it:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...756129&tc=photo

Decepticon was right. Found out that it represents the Tokugawa shogunate, and a variation is used for the Tottori region of Japan.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3010.html

Also found out that Lesayu Tokugawa, for whom the crest and shogunate are named after, is in the video game Samura Warriors.

The only reason why I can think of that it's used in Kill Bill is because that era was the last real era for swords and samurai before the Meiji era began and eliminated both, and it may be a tribute to that.