Three sparrows in a bamboo circle playing cards

Takenomaru ni sanwasuzume / Bamboo crest / This is the representative family crest of the Kajuji family, one of the noble families among the court nobles. This crest was treated as a prestigious crest second only to the peony crest of the Konoe family, and therefore could not be used by any other family. The Kajuji family only granted this crest to powerful local clans such as the Nagao, Date, and Mogami families. As a result, the distribution of this crest is mostly limited to the regions where these families were based. The samurai families that were granted this crest by the Kajuji family used a crest with two sparrows, in contrast to the three sparrows used by the court nobles. (From 'A Comprehensive Guide to Japanese Family Crests')