| Japanese Culture and Social Customs Part ９ The Monkey （Saru 猿) |
 What do you think of a monkey? Do you think of an animal with a red face and red haunches or a being that is a lot like us? Since olden times, in India and Africa monkeys are considered sacred animals and in China, creatures of mystery. They often appear as heroes in old tales and legends because their figures and movements are like human beings. Even in Japan, monkeys are believed to be messengers of god. They are also known to be symbols of good luck because the Japanese word for monkey, “saru”, has a lucky sound. “Saru” means removing misfortunes. Furthermore, monkeys were also believed to be animals that protected horses from diseases and there was a custom which monkeys were kept in the horse stables in the Muromachi Period (1392-1573). There is a famous shrine called Nikko Toshogu which has a carving of the three wise monkeys on the wall of a sacred white horse stable. The carving is a masterpiece illustrating monkeys representing the three points to live by in this world, ”see no evil (mizaru), speak no evil (iwazaru) and hear no evil (kikazaru)”. The verb-ending “zaru” sounds like “saru” as monkey.  Which animal would you want to see first when you go to the zoo? Is it a
panda, an elephant or some rare animal? Which animal would you spend the
most time looking at? Many people would certainly choose to see monkeys,
playing in a playground. Visitors surely enjoy watching a variety of
monkeys’ expressions and motions such as baby monkeys playing innocently
while their mothers take care of them and the boss sits at the top in a
dignified manner and stares at others. By the way, do you know that there is a monkey with white hands in Hitachi Kamine Zoo? This monkey was born there three years ago. It was one of fourteen monkey births. The monkey with white hands is so rare that people used to worship them as the lucky ones. The people at Kamine Zoo think that this monkey will bring them something lucky. It is now running about cheerfully in the zoo. You can distinguish it from the others as it often plays with the chains in the center of the playground. |