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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.
Naval Ensign of Japan: Flag of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force: Japan Self-Defense Forces Naval Ensign of Japan: National personification: Amaterasu [citation needed] Amaterasu: National founder: Emperor Jimmu (神武天皇 Jinmu-tennō) Emperor Jimmu: National dish: Sushi, Japanese curry, ramen: Sushi, [3 ...
Japanese anthropologist Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney explains the idiom saru wa ke ga sanbon tarinai (猿は毛が三本足りない, "a monkey is [a human] minus three pieces of hair"): "The literal meaning of this saying is that the monkey is a lowly animal trying to be a human and therefore is to be laughed at. [1]
Hachiman (八幡神) is the god of war and the divine protector of Japan and its people. Originally an agricultural deity, he later became the guardian of the Minamoto clan. His symbolic animal and messenger is the dove. Inari Ōkami (稲荷大神) The god or goddess of rice and fertility. Their messengers and symbolic animal are foxes.
Habu, four different species of venomous snake that exist in certain islands including Okinawa, the Sakishima Islands and the Tokara Islands, but not on the islands of Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, Hokkaido.
Later the kami's animal familiar became a common symbol of the kami itself. For example, the foxes at Inari shrines was worshipped as a manifestation of Inari Ōkami . These creatures were thought to be extraordinary spiritual beings, and this perception, combined with their relationship with the specific kami , likely gave rise to this phenomenon.
The Japanese serow (氈鹿, kamoshika, lit. "coarse pelt deer") (Capricornis crispus) [a] is a Japanese goat-antelope, an even-toed ungulate. It is found in dense woodland in Japan, primarily in northern and central Honshu. The serow is seen as a national symbol of Japan, and is subject to protection in conservation areas.
Other superstitions relate to the literal meanings of words. Another significant part of Japanese superstition has its roots in Japan's ancient pagan, animist culture and regards certain natural things as having kami. Thus, many Japanese superstitions involve beliefs about animals and depictions of animals bringing about good or bad fortune. [3]