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A pair of komainu, the "a" on the right, the "um" on the left. Komainu (狛犬), often called lion-dogs in English, are statue pairs of lion-like creatures, which traditionally guard the entrance or gate of the shrine, or placed in front of or within the honden (inner sanctum) of Japanese Shinto shrines.
Shisa (Japanese: シーサー, Hepburn: shīsā, Okinawan: シーサー, romanized: shiisaa) is a traditional Ryukyuan cultural artifact and decoration derived from Chinese guardian lions, often seen in similar pairs, resembling a cross between a lion and a dog, from Okinawan mythology. Shisa are wards, believed to protect from some evils.
Lion pillars erected during the reign of Emperor Ashoka show lions and the chakra emblem. The lions depicted in the Lion Capital of Ashoka inspired artists who designed the Emblem of India. Singh is an ancient Indian name meaning "lion", dating more than 2,000 years ago to ancient India. It was originally only used by warriors in India.
However, Japanese adaptations state that the male is inhaling, representing life, while the female exhales, representing death. Other styles have both lions with a single large pearl in each of their partially opened mouths. The pearl is carved so that it can roll about in the lion's mouth but sized just large enough so that it can never be ...
Manticore – a mythical creature with a human head, a lion body, a scorpion tail, spines like a porcupine, and bat wings in some iterations; Nue – a Japanese Chimera with the head of a monkey, the body of a tanuki, the legs of a tiger, and a snake-headed tail; Pegasus – a winged stallion in Greek mythology; Pixiu or Pi Yao – Chinese ...
A Japanese chimera with the features of the beasts from the Chinese Zodiac: a rat's head, rabbit ears, ox horns, a horse's mane, a rooster's comb, a sheep's beard, a dragon's neck, a back like that of a boar, a tiger's shoulders and belly, monkey arms, a dog's hindquarters, and a snake's tail.
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Shishi kagura – a form of lion dance, in which a group of dancers take on the role of the lion (shishi) and parade around the town. The lion mask and costume is seen as, in some ways, embodying the spirit of the lion, and this is a form of folk worship and ritual, as other forms of lion dances are in Japan and elsewhere.