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Japanese Culture and Social Customs |
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What do you think of when you think of a tortoise? Do you think of a slow
moving animal, carrying a tortoise shell on its back or a timid creature
that ducks its head into the shell when it happens to meet enemies? Even
so, a tortoise always heads for its goal crawling slowly in a straight
line. In ancient China, tortoises are considered very lucky animals, as they are messengers of the holy mountain, Hourai. Legendary wizards lived there, and their place was believed as the site of the perennial youth and long life. Tortoises are also believed as happy animals, which symbolize longevity of ten thousand years in Japan. For example, rearing a live tortoise in the home is said to ensure that the head of a family lives to a ripe old age. And tortoises are also a symbol of protection. What is behind such power? It seems to originate in a tortoise shell. The outer shell is formed with scales of hexagonal patterns and the bottom of a shell is formed with a bone, and the two are jointed firmly. In China, because the outer shell curves just like the heavens, and the bottom of a shell is flat as the earth, a tortoise is often compared to a creature that carries the world on its back. There are various opinions about why a tortoise shell forms a spherical shape by nature, however generally speaking the spherical shape of a tortoise shell has the ability to absorb large amounts of energy from the universe. This may be the source of the tortoise’s force. Tortoise figures are used for many celebrations such as a wedding gift in Japan. When you decorate these figures in your house, the best place to put it is in the north corner from where lots of good fortune will be brought. |
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