According to Japanese mythology, there are Seven Lucky Gods. You may have seen them aboard the Takarabune (宝船 Treasure Ship), sailing from heaven bound for earthly ports. No New Year's celebration is complete without a picture of the Seven Lucky Gods aboard their ship.
One of the Seven Lucky Gods is Fukurokuju (福禄寿), who is famous for his elongated head, the immense store of wisdom he keeps in it, and his extremely old age.
Fukurokuju's name is an amalgam of fuku, meaning 'happiness', roku, meaning 'wealth', and ju, which means 'longevity.' He is thought to embody the celestial powers of the south polar star, or Southern Cross and is a Japanese rendition of the Chinese Three Star Gods (Fú Lù Shòu), transmogrified into a single deity.
Of these three Chinese gods, the one Fukurokuju most resembles is Shòu 寿, who is also considered a god of wisdom and longevity. Shòu was a hermit who lived in the mountains of China in the time of the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127). He lived his life as a sennin (仙人 mountain hermit) and became known for performing miracles and never eating or drinking.
Shòu was able to do so because, unbeknownst to those around him, he was an immortal, the reincarnation of a famous Taoist deity called Xuántiān Shàngdì 玄天上帝.
Photo by George Lloyd, with permission from the Shinjuku Historical Museum 新宿歴史博物館
The size of Fukurokuju's head varies according to who you ask. Some pictures simply show him to have a large forehead, while others give him a head as large as his body.
Depictions often show Fukurokuju with a sacred book tied to his staff. This book is a record of the name of every person on earth and how long they will live.
He is often shown in the company of a crane or a turtle, because both these animals are considered to be symbols of longevity. He is sometimes accompanied by a black deer too, because according to legend, deers turn black once they reach the age of 2000.
Being very wise and very old, Fukurokuju is also inordinately patient. He is very partial to a game of chess and once said, "Anyone who can look upon a chess game without comment is a great man.”
There is an old story related to the patience needed to play chess. One day, a farmer was on his way home when he passed two old men playing chess. As he quietly watched the match, each move became slower, until it seemed to him that he could actually see one of the players' beards growing.
Suddenly, the farmer realized that the day was almost over, so he politely bid farewell to the players and rushed home. But when he got there, he discovered that his house no longer existed. He described it to a passer-by, who told him that it had been knocked down years ago. Only then did he realise that he had been watching the game of chess for 200 years.
Fukurokuju is sometimes confused with Jurōjin 寿老人, another of the Seven Lucky Gods, who by some accounts is his grandson and by other accounts inhabits the same body as Fukurokuju.
The Seven Lucky Gods crop up in shrines and temples all over Japan. There is even a Pilgrimage to the Seven Lucky Gods in Kamakura, which takes devotees around seven shrines. One of them is Goryō Shrine (御霊神社). The shrine’s treasure hall houses ten old masks with amusing, exaggerated expressions and one of them is of Fukurokuju.
Goryō Shrine holds a festival every year between September 12th and 18th. The best day to visit is the last, when a menkake gyōretsu (面掛行列 procession) of local people wearing these weird masks makes its way through the streets of the neighbourhood. The custom dates back to the time of Minamoto no Yoritomo (源頼朝 1147-1199), the man who established the shogunate in Kamakura, which makes it almost as old as Fukurokuju himself.
According to Japanese mythology, there are Seven Lucky Gods. You may have seen them aboard the Takarabune (宝船 Treasure Ship), sailing from heaven bound for earthly ports. No New Year's celebration is complete without a picture of the Seven Lucky Gods aboard their ship.
One of the Seven Lucky Gods is Fukurokuju (福禄寿), who is famous for his elongated head, the immense store of wisdom he keeps in it, and his extremely old age.
Fukurokuju's name is an amalgam of fuku, meaning 'happiness', roku, meaning 'wealth', and ju, which means 'longevity.' He is thought to embody the celestial powers of the south polar star, or Southern Cross and is a Japanese rendition of the Chinese Three Star Gods (Fú Lù Shòu), transmogrified into a single deity.
Marshall Astor from San Pedro, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Of these three Chinese gods, the one Fukurokuju most resembles is Shòu 寿, who is also considered a god of wisdom and longevity. Shòu was a hermit who lived in the mountains of China in the time of the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127). He lived his life as a sennin (仙人 mountain hermit) and became known for performing miracles and never eating or drinking.
Shòu was able to do so because, unbeknownst to those around him, he was an immortal, the reincarnation of a famous Taoist deity called Xuántiān Shàngdì 玄天上帝.
Photo by George Lloyd, with permission from the Shinjuku Historical Museum 新宿歴史博物館
The size of Fukurokuju's head varies according to who you ask. Some pictures simply show him to have a large forehead, while others give him a head as large as his body.
Depictions often show Fukurokuju with a sacred book tied to his staff. This book is a record of the name of every person on earth and how long they will live.
He is often shown in the company of a crane or a turtle, because both these animals are considered to be symbols of longevity. He is sometimes accompanied by a black deer too, because according to legend, deers turn black once they reach the age of 2000.
Being very wise and very old, Fukurokuju is also inordinately patient. He is very partial to a game of chess and once said, "Anyone who can look upon a chess game without comment is a great man.”
There is an old story related to the patience needed to play chess. One day, a farmer was on his way home when he passed two old men playing chess. As he quietly watched the match, each move became slower, until it seemed to him that he could actually see one of the players' beards growing.
Suddenly, the farmer realized that the day was almost over, so he politely bid farewell to the players and rushed home. But when he got there, he discovered that his house no longer existed. He described it to a passer-by, who told him that it had been knocked down years ago. Only then did he realise that he had been watching the game of chess for 200 years.
Fukurokuju is sometimes confused with Jurōjin 寿老人, another of the Seven Lucky Gods, who by some accounts is his grandson and by other accounts inhabits the same body as Fukurokuju.
The Seven Lucky Gods crop up in shrines and temples all over Japan. There is even a Pilgrimage to the Seven Lucky Gods in Kamakura, which takes devotees around seven shrines. One of them is Goryō Shrine (御霊神社). The shrine’s treasure hall houses ten old masks with amusing, exaggerated expressions and one of them is of Fukurokuju.
Goryō Shrine holds a festival every year between September 12th and 18th. The best day to visit is the last, when a menkake gyōretsu (面掛行列 procession) of local people wearing these weird masks makes its way through the streets of the neighbourhood. The custom dates back to the time of Minamoto no Yoritomo (源頼朝 1147-1199), the man who established the shogunate in Kamakura, which makes it almost as old as Fukurokuju himself.