The Kikyo is the Akechi Mitsuhide family crest. He was a great lover of Tea ceremony, Calligraphy and poem. and attacked Oda Nobunaga at the Honno-ji Temple in 1582.
He wanted to host a poetry party (renga gathering), but did not have the money to do so. His wife Hiroko cut off her long black hair and sold them to help him.
"月さびよ 明智が妻の 咄せむ"
"Tsukisabiyo akechigatsumano hanashisen"
"Moon, look sad (lonely), as I will tell you the story of Akechi's wife"
by Matsuo Basho, the most famous poet of the Edo period in JAPAN.
