Seven Lucky Gods

The seven lucky gods of fortune are a BIG deal here in Japan. You can see carvings, figurines, and pictures of these 7 lucky gods in almost every Japanese home. On Wednesday I went on a free (gotta love FREE) tour with a great group of women in Kamakura to visit 7 different temples/shrines that are home to the 7 Gods!!! This is a full day event as each one is not right down the road from each other, we took the train and walked until we went to all 7. We bought a stamping sheet with a picture of the 7 Gods in the middle and had it stamped at each location.... this is going to be great when it is all framed! My favorite as the first one we went to (to the right), Hotei, he is the god of contentment and happiness! I liked him the best because he was life size and we got to rub his belly for good luck. Many of the others were off limits to pictures and definitely to touching! There was even one that we couldn't see at all because it was behind closed doors!!!

The 2nd one we went to was Fukurokuju, and it was literally a head in a box... He is the god of longevity and wealth and has a long beard and a abnormally long head. The 3rd one is pictured to the left and his name is Daikoku. You're not supposed to take pictures of this one, but we had already taken this when we saw the sign that said no pictures.... oops! Anyway, he is the god of wealth, agriculture, farming and commerce, and sits upon bales of rice which is very important in Japanese culture. He has a mallet in his hand which symbolizes good luck so we rubbed the string attached to the mallet. Daikoku was located at the Hase-dera Temple which has gorgeous views of Kamakura and the ocean! We had lunch up there... it was pretty cold with the wind but the view was priceless! The 4th one we walked to was Ebisu, the god of fisherman, the ocean, sailors, commerce and fair dealing. He was so tiny and off limits that you couldn't even see his fishing pole or fish that he carries!

Seven is an important number, not only in Japanese culture, but in many cultures all over the world. Seven can be seen in many different ways... there are 7 principles in the Samurai's philosophy, The Japanese Star Festival is on the 7th day of the 7th month, when a baby is born they celebrate it on the 7th day, and when someone dies, they mourn for 7 days and then again after 7 weeks, and in Buddhism they believe in 7 reincarnations.... all very interesting! Sometimes these 7 gods are found in pictures where they are all in a treasure ship as each one represents a different kind of fortune! It is common for people to visit all 7 gods right after New Year's to ensure they have all sorts of good luck for the new year!!!

The 5th one we went to was Jurojin and he is the god of longevity and wisdom... super important to see him- especially because I want to live forever! The 6th one we visited was Bishamon, the god of war, treasure, defender of Buddhist faith and patron of warriors. He was so tiny I couldn't even see him, plus he was inside a temple that was really dark! The 7th and final god of fortune we visited was all locked up and only is brought out on special occasion, but her name is Benzaiten, the only female in the group! She is the goddess of eloquence, the arts, wisdom, and beauty! In the pictures we saw she would be really neat to see... AND the thing with this 7th one is that there is actually ANOTHER statue of Benzaiten that is a little different located at another shrine and as you can see our stamp sheet has one more open spot... soooooooo hopefully soon we will make it to the 8th place to get the stamp and complete the page! I like getting the stamps because they are all hand done... first they use the red stamps, then they do the writing by hand and it is so beautiful to watch! A very awesome day!!!! Can't wait to get the 8th stamp and then frame this for our home!!!

Japanese Word of the Day:
Nani Nani (nonny nonny): What is it??? (slang)