Just as the keen curiosity for other cultures might be regarded as a lack of originality, one might see a disadvantage in the interpretation of elementary forms, namely a reluctance to think of them in purely abstract terms. Each family, for instance, has its own coat of arms, the Kamon, which has been in use for about a thousand years. Theirs are more than ten thousand different patterns, each consisting of a few sparing, geometric shapes. Nonetheless, they are seen to represent something concrete such as cherry blossoms, pine trees of bamboo. Pure abstraction is avoided by giving nonfigurative forms a figurative reading. Obviously, this is not indicative of an underdeveloped civilisation but rather of a people wisely concerned with perserving the harmonious coexistence of man and nature.