Taiko kiri T-Shirt

Along with the chrysanthemum crest, the paulownia crest had auspicious significance and was an authoritative crest, so it was used from long ago as a design on armor, swords, and their accessories. However, in the era of Hideyoshi, it was further applied to general arts and crafts, so the paulownia crest became unprecedentedly popular. Everything from clothing and furnishings to architectural carvings used this design, and it was known as "Taiko-giri," forming a grand and bold style. It is said that almost no art works from the Momoyama period do not feature some application of this design. ("Nihon Monshogaku")