Please let me introduce you to Daikoku, one of Japan's Seven Lucky Gods. He is the God of wealth, farmers, food and good fortune. I took this photo at Kiyomizudera in Kyoto where he greets visitors to his shrine. I was enchanted by the way the light caught in his wish granting jewel and intensified the lanterns behind him.
Daikoku is a deity of the kitchen and a provider of food. I've seen small statues and printed images of him in the kitchens of restored inns along the Tokaido. Today you can find him on key chains, decals to decorate your phone and advertisements. It's not surprising that he's a favorite of mine, since I must eat five times a day. But it's also ironic because I don't like to cook. Thank goodness Steve loves to create his "jazz" recipes.
Jolly, welcoming Daikoku originated in India as a Hindu warrior god, an avatar of Shiva. Like so many Hindu gods, Buddhism adopted him into its pantheon, where he remained a fierce soldier for centuries. But in Japan things changed in the fifteenth century.
Japanese artwork began to show him as a cheerful and pudgy deity wearing a peasant's hat and standing on bales of rice, carrying a large sack of treasure slung over his shoulder and holding a small magic mallet. Daikoku's mallet of plenty can miraculously produce anything desired when struck. Wouldn't you love to have one?
For lots more information and photos:
<http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/daikoku.shtml>http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/daikoku.shtml
Helen Rindsberg
http://helenrindsberg.com/
http://helenrindsberg.blogspot.com/
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