Honjo Daikon

The crest of daikon radish. The design and the name of this crest are based on 'Mon Den'(the book about the family crest). Keishoin was the mother of the fifth shogun of the Tokugawa family, Tsunayoshi. She decided to adopt the daikon radish crest so that she would not forget that she was a daughter of a radish seller. The crest has been succeeded by the Honjo family, whose origin was Munesuke, the younger brother of Keishoin, and who became the lord of Tamba-Miyazu with 70,000 koku. (Kusado Yoshiaki 'The Family Crest Reflects the Spirit of the Japanese People' p.211). Numata Raisuke wrote in his 'The Study of the Japanese Crests' that the theory that Keishoin was a daughter of a radish seller is not credible because her mother's family background is clear.