Discusion

Jūnishi

The Japanese Zodiac has twelve animals. In fact the first two syllables of jūnishi, (jūni) means 12. So the 12 shi are the twelve animals of the zodiac. One of those animals is the hare or rabbit. People born in the year of the rabbit (usagi) are said to have very good luck, be talented and ambitious, and are admirable, honest, and trustworthy. The next year of the rabbit is 2023, so you wonderful people, your time is coming again soon.

Usagi Folktales

apan has some colorful folklore about usagi. Kojiki is the oldest extant chronical in Japan, dating back to approximately 711 - 712. It chronicles Japan's founding myths. One of its tales tells of a rabbit tricking sharks to line up, forming a bridge that allowed the rabbit to cross water from an island to the mainland. The rabbit boasted of the trick just before reaching the other end of the bridge, causing the last shark to rip off the rabbit's fur. On the other side, the rabbit encountered eighty brothers on their way to woo the hand of a princess. Only the youngest brother kindly told the rabbit to wash himself in fresh water and then roll in cattail pollen. That restored the rabbit's fur. In return, the rabbit correctly foretold that the youngest brother would win the hand of the princess.

In another tale, the Man on the Moon came down to Earth disguised as a beggar. He asked a fox, a monkey, and a rabbit for food. The fox brought him fish, the monkey brought fruit, but the rabbit having nothing else, threw himself into a fire and offered himself as food. The beggar, turning back into the Man in the Moon, pulled the rabbit from the fire and carried him back to the moon with him to honor his kindness. To this day, you can see the rabbit on the Moon, pounding rice to make mochi (rice cakes).

Oxalis

Better known to most of us as clover, there are over 550 species of oxalis all over the world except in the polar regions

Most oxalis (a.k.a. clover, wood sorrel) have three leaflets per leaf, but occasionally, one with four leaves can be found.

Contrary to popular conception, there is no such thing as a shamrock. The word is a corruption of an Irish word meaning "little clover". Most plants marketed as shamrocks are really wood sorrels with white flowers.

Oxalis flowers can be white, yellow, pink or red. While three or four leaflets are common, but there can be as many as nine. Some fold up at night. Leaf shapes can vary, too. The plant below is known as a "purple" oxalis.

The idea that four leaf clovers (a mutation in clovers that normally have three leaflets) are lucky probably arose because they are so rare.

Artwork

Netsuke

Rabbits are among many animal and other subjects carved into netsuke for holding inro (small storage containers) in place in traditional men's clothing. This netsuke, made in the 19th century, has a small hole in its underside to run a cord through

Kitagawa Utamaro (1753 – 1806)

As has been noted before, Utamaro is best known for his ukyyo-e paintings of courtesans, but he also painted many natural subjects, too. It is uncertain when he did the painting below. Note that the composition features both rabbits and the Moon, a frequent combination in Japanese art when rabbits are painted.

Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831 - 1889)

The son of a samurai, Kyōsai initially studied with the Kanō school where he earned the nickname, The Painting Demon. Soon abandoning formal traditions in favor of popular styles, Kyōsai lived through Japan's revolution and its opening to the West when he got into political trouble for some of his caricatures. Though Kyōsai never studied with Hokusai (1760 - 1849), he is thought of as Hokusai's greatest successor. His "Rabbits" was painted in 1887. I'm open to suggestions about what the front rabbit has in his mouth.