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Japanese Culture and Social Customs
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 We would like to introduce you to the "Hyotan" (which is
also the title of this bulletin) as a symbol of good luck. The Hyotan is a
plant of the gourd family and bears fruit. Its fruit has a very hard shell
and usually narrow in the middle. There is a Japanese saying "Hyotan kara
koma ga deru". "Koma" means a horse, but of course a horse can't spring
out of a gourd. The meaning is that things can happen in unexpected
places. The "Hyotan" bulletin which started 17 years ago took its name
from this saying, because it was hoped that our readers would get useful
information
from it.The "Hyotan" or gourd is one of the most ancient garden plants and originates from Africa. Its fruit was used as a food and for tools and drinking receptacles. Part of the summer scenery in Japan was the making of shelves for the growing of gourds, the leaves of which give much welcome refreshing shade. After removing the seeds and drying them, gourds were used as flasks or containers for water, alcohol, medicine and seeds. They were especially used as seed containers over the years, and it was often said that seeds kept in such containers always bloomed successfully. They thus signified happiness or success to people. Their humo  rous shapes
have also always been thought of with affection. There are thus several
sayings featuring the word "hyotan". A set of three gourds are a good luck
symbol as the sound "san-byoshi sorou" in Japanese. It means a great
person all-round. Also a set of six gourds is even luckier, because "mu-byou"
means no sickness! Gourds also remind us of Hideyoshi Toyotomi
(1537-1598), one of the most well-known historical samurai heroes.
Hideoshi's battle ensign was a gourd motif. He would add further gourd
motifs to his ensign every time he won a battle. After that, this ensign
became a famous symbol of victory, the "Sennaribyoutan" which means one
thousand gourds growing on a tree. |