What do the sickle and the round ring in the logo mean?
On product labels or corners, you come across a pattern where a sickle and a round ring are placed side by side instead of letters. It makes one wonder whether it is simply a pictorial decoration or if it has a unique meaning.
It weaves together the sounds of a sickle, a ring, and a letter to represent the brand name, and embodies the spirit of firefighters of the past who risked danger and gave their all.
Looking at the corners or labels of the products, instead of letters, a sickle, a round ring, and a single letter are placed side by side.
This pattern is a traditional form of wordplay that evokes a word not through the shapes of the pictures, but through their sounds. When read in sequence—'Kama', which means sickle in Japanese, 'Wa', which means round ring, and the hiragana character 'Nu'—it completes the brand name KAMAWANU[1]. Rather than simply writing out the letters, it is a kind of wordplay that conceals the brand by combining the names of objects[2].
This unique combination does not end as mere wit, but also explains the brand's attitude. The name and symbol of KAMAWANU originate from the uniforms worn by firefighters in the Edo period[3]. Firefighters of that era, who leapt into flames, inscribed this pattern on their uniforms to express their resolve to give their all without minding whatever danger might come their way[4].
hmmm, on the surface, it looks like a witty rebus, but inside lies a firm determination to pour all sincerity and responsibility into making products.
The specific motivation behind first adopting the firefighters' uniform pattern as the brand's symbol has not yet been confirmed.