Takarabune - Seven Lucky Gods

[BARX2]

This is one I've wanted to build since I downloaded it a year or two ago from Canon. The Takarabune, or Seven Lucky Gods, is a Japanese cultural icon. Practically every home has a set of the gods in one form or another. I lived in Japan a number of years and it's in my blood. I love everything Japanese. More pictures:

Picasa Web Albums - Joe - Takarabune - ... (http://picasaweb.google.com/jepolch/TakarabuneSevenLuckyGods#)

[Don Boose]

This is a great little model.

I, too, am fond of the Takabune boats with the Seven God of Good Fortune (Shichifukujin) on board. When Lil and I were living near Tokyō in the late 1980s, we used to spend weekends exploring various parts of the city. In November 1989, we set out to explore the Mukōjima area, a Shitamachi (old city) neighborhood across the Sumida River and Northeast of Asakusa that is famous for a series of shrines and temples where the Shichifukujin reside. It is also one of the Sumida River neighborhoods chronicled by the turn-of-the-last century writer Kafū Nagai. We had a wonderful time that day, but by coincidence, every single one of the Seven Gods was in seclusion and we didn’t see even one of their images.

Around that time, I also built Lil a little model shrine with a noise-activated clockwork motor and a place where you could put a small paper image of one of the Gods. When you clapped your hands, the doors opened and the God de jour slowly emerged.

Thanks for bringing back some happy memories of life in Japan.

Don

[BARX2]

We may have run into each other at the Old Sanno Hotel. I was in Japan from '78 to '84 and then from '87 to '90. Talking about the old days in Japan got me looking at some of my treasures from back in the day and I took some pictures of them. You'll recognize them all, I'm sure. I am still a Sumo fan, but rarely get to see it anymore, except on Youtube. ;)

[Don Boose]

I was US Forces Japan J-5 at Yokota 1987-90 and had many TDYs to Japan from 1978 to 1984 (JCS J-5 Korean Desk Officer in the Pentagon and Secretary, Military Armistice Commission in Korea), so we may very well have crossed paths in both the Old and the New Sannos. Indeed, Lil and I were staying at the New Sanno during the Mukōjima foray.

Thanks for sharing those treasures. You clearly had a good eye for these things.

Don

[Yu Gyokubun]

This is very beautiful takarabune

Nearby my home - near Edo-river- there are seven temples called Shibamata shichifukujin (seven gods of good fortune). Each temple enshrines different god out of seven. I am ashamed to say although frequently I get to the plastic model shop passing through some of those temples on the way to the shop, I always pass through the temples even without casting an eye on them. It seems it is good opportunity to familiarize myself with Japanese culture by building the takarabune and put it on the shelf.

After the world war Japan was deeply influenced by Western culture especially the U.S. and people worked hard to catch up with the U.S. leaving Japanese culture behind. Nowadays many of newly built houses are western style. It is not unusual to have no tatami mat and paper screen room. Many of young people dye their hair blond and celebrate a marriage at a church not a shrine. It seems we are westernized too much though we know there will be no come back. On reflection, that tendency to incline to the Western culture seems to be common in Asian countries. My dad was born and raised in the Central Asia then later immigrated to Japan. As a boy I asked my dad why he came to Japan. To my query he said that his lifetime dream was to have obedient and considerate Japanese wife, live in a western style house and eat Chinese food. Also he added ‘Yu, you are lucky to be born in Japan. One day you’ll have obedient Japan wife’ But, after I had married I knew Japanese women are no longer obedient. Once my wife slapped me on the cheek though I have never ever slapped her.

Thanks for the info about the takarabune kit.

Yu

[BARX2]

Yu, thanks for the fascinating story. I had also heard the story of 'obedient wife, Western house, Chinese food'. :) When I lived in Japan (Aomori Prefecture) I loved to seek out the shrines, some of which were on remote hilltops.