秀吉の瓢箪の馬印（豊公馬印之瓢）
この瓢箪型の馬印は、実際に戦場で秀吉（1537-1598）が使ったと考えられている。軍旗は日本語では馬印と呼ばれていたが、これは文字どおり馬につける旗印という意味である。この瓢箪型のものは馬印と呼ばれ、秀吉のシンボルであった。馬印は戦国時代（1467-1568）の戦闘において司令官の位置を示すために使用された。秀吉が最初の頃に勝った戦いとの関連から、瓢箪は秀吉にとって戦の勝利の象徴となった。この本物の馬印は一つの瓢箪の形をしているが、秀吉との関連で有名な千成瓢箪は江戸時代の物語に由来するフィクションである。それは、戦に勝利するごとに馬印に新たに瓢箪を1つずつ足していった結果、最後には1000個にもなった、という伝説である。この馬印は藪之内家によって保存され、後に豊国神社に寄贈された。
Hideyoshi’s Gourd-shaped Battle Standard (Hoko umajirushi no hyo)
This gourd-shaped standard is thought to have been used by Hideyoshi (1537–1598) on the battlefield. Called umajirushi in Japanese (literally “horse insignia”), standards of this sort were used during the Warring States period (1467–1568) to indicate the location of a commander on the battlefield. The gourd became a symbol of Hideyoshi’s success in warfare through its association with one of his earliest victories, the Siege of Inabayama Castle (1567), during which his men displayed gourds on their spears to signal their capture of the castle gate. This authentic standard is shaped like a single gourd; the more famous Thousand Gourds (Sennari byotan) design that became associated with Hideyoshi is a later invention that appeared for the first time in Edo-period (1603–1867) narratives. These stories held that another gourd would be added to Hideyoshi’s standard after each of his victories, and so great was to be his success that they would eventually number one thousand. This standard was preserved in the care of the Yabunouchi family before it was donated to the Toyokuni shrine.
