The Seven Lucky Gods of Japan

by Reiko Chiba

Book by Chiba, Reiko

Genres: Japan, Japanese Literature, Mythology, Spirituality

Paperback

First published July 1, 1995

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Seven Lucky Gods of Japan are explained in a way that integrate their importance into Japanese culture. Truth be told I would really like to be able to go to Japan; I have always been interested in the long and turbulent history of the area. This book does a very good job of introducing you to some of the beliefs that have become deeply rooted in Japanese culture, glad to be able to finally identify all seven of the lucky gods!

[Velvetea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute ^-^. Loved the rainbow pages and plucky illustrations. Was the perfect quick read for a lazy afternoon in the park.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bought this at Maui Friends of the Library for $4. It's a cute book, the pages are colored and there are several illustrations.

It's a very short book. Each of the Seven Lucky Gods get 1 "chapter" each. The chapters don't say much or enough. You get tidbits and that's about it. I wish there more information for each.

There is a section at the end that lists professions and their corresponding patrons, which I found nice. Other than that and the design of the book, I do not recommend lol.

[Bran Buckson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It may be short, but it is the only book I have yet to find on the subject so far.
Hotei's smile has been cheering me up all of my life, and it was wonderful to learn more about Him as well as the other Lucky Gods, especially Fukurokujin and Jurojin, because of their connection to Shou Xing of China.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting short text on the history of the seven lucky gods. When I say short, I mean this could have been a long blog post.

Included is a history of how the gods came to be associated with each other, a description and history of each individual god, and a list of professions and which god or gods are considered to be patrons of those professions.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although a very short little book, it contains some tidbits on things I have come across in my studies on Japan, but that I did not know much about. For example, the tortoise in Japan is know as a symbol of longevity and it is painted with a hairy tail to represent its age - the strands representing years of growth - I always wondered why it had such a funny tail. It is also interesting to know what each god represents and what his/her implements represent. Ebisu is always seen with a fish, as he had a penchant for fishing and not ruling, while Daikoku's mallet, which often appears around New Year's is meant to bring fortune when struck. It is by no means an in-depth study, but worth the 20 minutes it took me to read it.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely an easy read, took me about 20 minutes to finish the whole thing. I liked the information that this little book had to offer. It brought up some interesting tidbits about Japanese culture. It's sort of funny because a lot of this stuff like explained in greater details many of the things I've witnessed at Japanese festivals. I went to the Ebisu festival in Tokyo and many of the traditions I saw now make more sense. So this book was informative, but at the same time, a little dry, could've been a bit more entertaining I thought.