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The Frog (Kaeru カエル) |
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The Frog (Kaeru カエル) What do you think when you think of a frog? Do you think of a cute  creature or something grotesque? The rainy season has started in June, and
gloomy days continue with high temperature and high humidity. Frogs have
started croaking. It is their favorite season. Well, frogs are known to be
endowed with magical powers, and they are seen as auspicious creatures
bringing good fortune. The reason comes from its peculiarity. Due to the
very large number of eggs (about1500) it lays each time, it had become a
symbol of fertility, rebirth and abundance.The frog is also a popular symbol for Japanese people, who call it “kaeru”. It has a lucky sound “kaeru” in Japanese, for example, to return money, return home safely, return a good fortune and return youth. People have frog charms as traffic and traveling safety, or decorate frog figures on their sho  e cupboards at the front door and wait for their family to return
home safely. As for returning money, they put the small images (about 1cm)
in the wallet to increase their own money. There are more than 2500 different species of frogs all over the world, inhabiting our living regions. Local people believe them as the god of rainfall and good harvests in Japan. In ancient Egypt, frogs were so important, and they sometimes put frog figures on the mummy to hope rebirth of the dead. In China, the three-legged toad was a traditional pet of the god of the wealth. In Chinese culture today the frog, often seen as a statue with a gold coin in its mouth, is still associated with riches. |
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