Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A shōjō standing on a giant sake cup, and using a long-handled sake ladle to pole through a sea of water or sake; detail from a whimsical Edo-period painting.. A shōjō (猩 々 or 猩猩) is the Japanese reading of Chinese xing-xing (猩猩) or its older form sheng sheng (狌狌, translated as "live-lively"), which is a mythical primate, though it has been tentatively identified with an ...
However, in Japan, around the beginning of the Meiji or Shōwa periods, custom changed and the head of the household usually takes the first drink. The tradition of drinking toso at the New Year began in the Tang dynasty in China and was adopted by Japanese aristocrats during the Heian period .
Author and folklorist Matthew Meyer has described the Kuchisake-onna legend as having roots dating back to Japan's Edo period, which spanned from the 17th to 19th centuries [1] but Japanese literature professor Iikura Yoshiyuki believes it dates from the 1970s. [3] In print, the legend of Kuchisake-onna dates back to at least as early as 1979.
A real existing tachi (Japanese long sword) named Dōjigiri, which is one of the Five Best Swords under Heaven and designated national treasure of Japan, [48] is associated with the tradition of being the sword that killed Shuten-dōji. [49] [q] Tada Shrine also has a tachi, Onikirimaru, which has a legend that it defeated Shuten-dōji.
Benzaiten, the Japanese form of Saraswati, supposedly killed a five-headed dragon at Enoshima in 552. Kuzuryū (九頭龍, "nine-headed dragon"), deriving from the nagarajas (snake-kings) Vasuki and Shesha, is worshipped at Togakushi Shrine in Nagano Prefecture. Compare the Nine-headed Bird (九頭鳥) in Chinese mythology.
Sukunabikona or Sukuna bikona (少彦名神, also known as Sukuna-biko, Sukuna-biko-na, Sukuna hikona) is the Shinto kami of the onsen (hot springs), agriculture, healing, magic, brewing sake and knowledge. His name means "the small lord of renown." He is often described as being a dwarf and is frequently paired with Ōkuninushi. [1]
The explanation is that in Japanese, まめ, マメ (mame) can also be written as 魔目 (mame), meaning the devil's eye, or 魔滅 (mametsu), meaning to destroy the devil. During the Edo period (1603–1867), the custom spread to Shinto shrines , Buddhist temples and the general public.
Sake bottle, Japan, c. 1740 Sake barrel offerings at the Shinto shrine Tsurugaoka Hachimangū in Kamakura Sake, saké (Japanese: 酒, Hepburn: sake, English: IPA: / ˈ s ɑː k i, ˈ s æ k eɪ / SAH-kee, SAK-ay [4] [5]), or saki, [6] also referred to as Japanese rice wine, [7] is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran.