Japanese Pattern Quiz
Shippo (Seven Treasures)
You link the same circles in every direction, repeating their round shape on and on.
Shippo is a pattern of circles of the same size, each overlapping its neighbors by a quarter of its circumference, linked up, down, left and right. Its name is said to come from the seven treasures described in Buddhist scriptures. Every circle overlaps the ones next to it, and without facing any direction, the whole carries on endlessly like a single net.
Because the circles go on linking endlessly, shippo has long been considered a pattern carrying wishes for harmony and for ties between people to keep spreading. You, too, change shape smoothly to suit the moment, link things together, and keep adding circles, with no set end.
A circle has no corners, so it connects smoothly to the next one from any direction. But because you could keep going forever, it can be hard to find the moment to say, “Let's call it a break here.” If you now and then pick a day to pause and count your circles, the shape of what you've kept up starts to show.
Strengths
- You can smoothly change your approach to suit the flow of things
- You can link scattered things together like a ring and bring them together
- Without rushing to finish, you can keep at the same thing for a long time and deepen it
Where you may stumble
- Because you can keep going, you miss the chance to draw a line
- Where things go strictly by plan, you have trouble finding your rhythm
- With people who handle things separately, one by one, the different way of linking things throws you
Sounds familiar, Shippo (Seven Treasures)?
- You listen to one song you love dozens of times on repeat
- When a few of you are talking, you join separate stories together into one
- Before you know it, your friends' friends all know each other
Where you shine
Gatherings that go on for years, or things that get richer the more you repeat them — that's when the rings you link can naturally bring people together.
Tips for “Shippo (Seven Treasures)”
- For things you keep up, set a day each season to draw a line
- Now and then, take the things you've connected apart one by one and look at them again
- Reach out to one person or thing outside your circle
Matches
See every match in the Japanese Pattern Quiz compatibility chart →
Karakusa (Arabesque Vines) — Karakusa also links things together to suit the moment. Shippo tends to keep layering the same circles, and Karakusa points its vines toward where it wants to grow, so your circle of connections spreads outward.
Kikko (Tortoiseshell) — Kikko also links things together and keeps the same shape going endlessly. Shippo tends to change shape in the moment, and Kikko lends it a straight plan, so the arrangement of your circles stays steadier.
Yagasuri (Arrow Feathers) — Yagasuri breaks things into separate pieces, decides on a destination and heads straight there. To Shippo, who wants to link its circles and carry on in the same place, Yagasuri seems to be rushing ahead, and to Yagasuri, Shippo's repetition seems to be getting nowhere.
Close neighbors
These differ from this one on just 1 of the 3 axes. If one of your axes was near the middle, you may have their side too.
Which one are you? 18 everyday situations, about 3 minutes.
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