A was a

flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...

used in

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

hikeshi Hikeshi () were Fire department, fire brigades in edo period, Edo and Meiji era, Meiji-era Tokyo; also members of these brigades. Japanese cities were extremely prone to fires due to the fact that paper and wood were the main building materials. ...

firemen to notify people of a fire near or within a building. It was taken up on a roof near the burning building by the and waved to draw the attention of other groups of

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

s, who would then hurry to the site of the fire to assist. Each different group of firemen in the Edo period had their own to identify themselves.In modern Japan, the is only used for

ceremonial A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin . Religious and civil (secular) ceremoni ...

purposes, for example on New Year's firefighter event, . The ''Fire Museum'' (消防博物館東京消防庁消防防災資料センター) of the

Tokyo Fire Department The Tokyo Fire Department (TFD) ( Japanese: 東京消防庁, ''Tōkyō Shōbōch''ō), Founded in 1948, is the fire department of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. The TFD is the largest urban fire department in the world with a total staff of 18,408. T ...

has a large collection of replica matoi.

References

Bibliography

Japan Hikeshi (Firemen) Preserving Foundation
Flags of Japan Edo period History of firefighting Firefighting in Japan Japanese words and phrases {{Japan-hist-stub