Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1912-01-27
JAPANESE SANTA
IS A STEADY
BOARDER

Some Of us who were inclined at
the holiday season to pity the little
japanese children In the Territory be-
cause they do not believe i'm Santa
Claus, find upon investigation that we
had better reserve our sympathy for
the little American children who do.
For Santa Claus bless his goodness.
comes but once year, while Hotel, the
things to Japanese Junior is "a steady
buardcr the year around in every Jap
anCsc household
Hotel Is one of the seven gods of
good luck. He occupies the place Of
honor ON the kamadana. or god shelf,
to be found in every japanese home.
The six others are BishumOn. Ebisu,
Daikoku. Fokuroku Jiu, JurO Jiu and
Bontcn.
In every house whether the lacquer
ed palace of the emperor or the bam-
boo hut of the Coolic. one may always
! find two or three If not all of the
seven good-luCk gods on the kama
dana Hotel. the Japanese Santa Claus.
Is always represented.
Hotel Is very fat lie is always half
clothed and carries a big bag. from
which he Is supposed to dispense good
things among the children. Some
times he carries n wooden fan, and
he always has his cap set at n curious
Iangle
! In the homes of the poorer people
the little gods are of rudely carved
! wood or moulded in cheap pottery. but
whatever their material, decoration or
variety of design, they are equally eff
! ficaclous in bringing good fortune. Peo-
+ pie Of large means have exquisitely
lecqucred ones In gold, black or red,
and one occasionally sees handsome
1 bronze ones.
These gods. who are supposed to
hold the sacred treasure In their keep
/ ing, are reproduced In variety OF
ways on household articles for daily
use; carved cut, lacquered and printed
representations of them meet the eye
continually. A set of seven tiny porcc-
lain sake cups with a god In the bot
tom of each one to meet the eye when
the sake Is out is perhaps the most
common form. But the figures of the
gods themselves are never found except
upon the god-shelf. A favorite form
Of representation II a nest OF seven
| figures which fit closely together. each
one decorated with the simplest form
of god or goddess. As a rule these
are playthings for children. Some of
| them are very expensive, being most
artistically done with lacquer, while the
are painted without any attempt at
decoration.
Bishamon Is usually represented as
being clad In armor with an uplifted
staff in one hand: sometimes n pagoda.
the symbol Of power, Is held aloft in
the other. He Is very fierce looking
and his big body is unwieldy and cum
bersomc.
| The japanese belief in the power OF
these little gods Is universal. The
!
sense of the word.
The gods are supposed to be pos
sesscd of Il treasure ship which con-
tains the precious jewel, the hammer,
the hat Of invisibiity. the lucky rain
coat, the sacred key, the weight, the
Glove, the shippo, all of which are typ
ical of good things.
Ebisu Is the god of plenty or daily
food, particularly such as comes from
the sea. He presideS over the allow
ance Of food and is thought to parti-
tion Off the amount of rice and fish
necessary for the family. II they do
not have sufficient for their needs they
suppose the god to be offended.
/ DaikOku. the god Of wealth, has
many worshippers, for the Japanese
though they can most heroically do
without them IL need be Ebisu and
Daikoku are two gods usually seen In
a poor mans cottage. If man has
the gods of food and wealth to assist
him he usually feels that he need ask
nut lllllt more OI fortune.
The god of fortune and wisdom, For
kuroku-Jiu, is held in high esteem. and
Is not so formidable AS you might sup
pose from his name. His rounded back
bent with the burden of years, gives
him the appearance of Il dccrepit old
man who needs u staff to help his tot
tcring footsteps. His head IL supposed
to have been heightened by hundreds
Of years of studious habits. In some
cases he IL represented as carrying n
volume of concentrated wisdom, and
again he is seen with n fan, which
sometimes represents power,
Long life Is much to be desired in a
land where age commands respect:
thus 1t Is not strang to find JurO Jlu
the god Of longevity, in II conspicuous
place on the kamadana He is n Jap
anese Methuselah with II placed face,
open mouth and grave mien. and wears