Monkeys In Japanese Culture
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Japanese macaque The Japanese macaque (''Macaca fuscata''), also known as the snow monkey, is a terrestrial Old World monkey species that is native to Japan. Colloquially, they are referred to as "snow monkeys" because some live in areas where snow covers the g ...
( Japanese: 日本猿 ''Nihonzaru''), characterized by brown-grey fur, a red face and buttocks, and a short tail, inhabits all of the islands in the
Japanese archipelago The is an archipelago of list of islands of Japan, 14,125 islands that form the country of Japan. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East China Sea, East China and Philippine Sea, Philippine seas in the southwest al ...
except northernmost
Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...
. Throughout most of Japanese history, monkeys were a familiar animal seen in fields and villages, but with habitat lost through urbanization of modern Japan, they are presently limited to mountainous regions. Monkeys are a historically prominent feature in the religion, folklore, and art of Japan, as well as in Japanese proverbs and idiomatic expressions. The Japanese cultural meaning of the monkey has diachronically changed. Beginning with 8th-century historical records, monkeys were sacred mediators between gods and humans; around the 13th century, monkeys also became a "scapegoat" metaphor for tricksters and dislikable people. These roles gradually shifted until the 17th century, when the monkey usually represented the negative side of human nature, particularly people who foolishly imitate others. Japanese anthropologist Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney explains the idiom ''saru wa ke ga sanbon tarinai'' (猿は毛が三本足りない, "a monkey is humanminus three pieces of hair"): "The literal meaning of this saying is that the monkey is a lowly animal trying to be a human and therefore is to be laughed at. However, the saying is understood by the Japanese to portray the monkey as representing undesirable humans that are to be ridiculed."


Language

''Saru'' (猿) is the most common "monkey" word in the
Japanese language is the principal language of the Japonic languages, Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people. It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language, and within the Japanese dia ...
. This Japanese ''
kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...
'' has ''
on'yomi , or the Sino-Japanese vocabulary, Sino-Japanese reading, is the reading of a kanji based on the historical Chinese pronunciation of the character. A single kanji might have multiple ''on'yomi'' pronunciations, reflecting the Chinese pronuncia ...
'' "Chinese readings" of ''en'' or ''on'' (from Chinese ''yuán''), and ''
kun'yomi is the way of reading kanji characters using the native Japanese word that matches the meaning of the Chinese character when it was introduced. This pronunciation is contrasted with ''on'yomi'', which is the reading based on the original Chi ...
'' "Japanese readings" of ''saru'' or
Old Japanese is the oldest attested stage of the Japanese language, recorded in documents from the Nara period (8th century). It became Early Middle Japanese in the succeeding Heian period, but the precise delimitation of the stages is controversial. Old Ja ...
''mashi'' or ''mashira'' in classical
Japanese literature Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or , a Chinese-Japa ...
. The archaic literary ''ete'' reading in ''etekō'' (猿公, "Mr. Monkey") is phonetically anomalous. The
etymologies Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...
of Japanese ''saru'' and ''mashira'' are uncertain. For ''saru'' (猿), Yamanaka notes Ainu ''saro'' "monkey", which Batchelor explains as, "from ''sara'' (a tail) and ''o'' (to bear), hence ''saro'' means 'having a tail'." Yamanaka suggests an etymology from Mongolian ''samji'' "monkey", transformed from ''sam'' > ''sanu'' > ''salu'', with a possible ''ma-'' prefix evident in archaic Japanese ''masaru'', ''mashira'', and ''mashi'' pronunciations (of 猿). For ''mashira'' (猿), Yamanaka cites Turner that Indo-Aryan ''markáta'' "monkey" derives from
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
''markaṭa'' (मर्कट) "monkey" (cf.
meerkat The meerkat (''Suricata suricatta'') or suricate is a small mongoose found in southern Africa. It is characterised by a broad head, large eyes, a pointed snout, long legs, a thin tapering tail, and a brindled coat pattern. The head-and-body ...
), with cognates including
Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...
''makkaṭa'', Oriya ''mākaṛa'', and Gujarti ''mākṛũ''. ''Saru'' originally meant the "
Japanese macaque The Japanese macaque (''Macaca fuscata''), also known as the snow monkey, is a terrestrial Old World monkey species that is native to Japan. Colloquially, they are referred to as "snow monkeys" because some live in areas where snow covers the g ...
" specifically, but was semantically extended to mean "
simian The simians, anthropoids, or higher primates are an infraorder (Simiiformes ) of primates containing all animals traditionally called monkeys and apes. More precisely, they consist of the parvorders New World monkey, Platyrrhini (New World mon ...
", "
monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...
", "
ape Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a superfamily of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and Europe in prehistory, and counting humans are found global ...
". The ''en'' or ''on'' Sino-Japanese reading is seen in words such as: *''shin'en'' (心猿, lit. " heart-/mind-monkey") (Buddhist) "unsettled; restless; indecisive" *''enjin'' (猿人 "monkey human") "ape-man" *''shinenrui'' (真猿類 "true monkey category") "simian" *''ruijinen'' (類人猿 "category human monkey") "anthropoid; troglodyte" *''oen'' ( 御猿, "great monkey") "menstruation", in comparison to a monkey's red buttocks The native ''saru'' reading is used in many words, including some
proper names A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity (''Africa''; ''Jupiter''; ''Sarah (given name), Sarah''; ''Walmart'') as distinguished from a common noun, which is a noun that refers to a Class (philoso ...
: *''sarumawashi'' (猿回し, lit. "monkey revolving") "monkey trainer; monkey show" *''sarumane'' (猿真似, "monkey imitation") "superficial imitation; monkey see monkey do" *''sarujie'' (猿知恵, "monkey wisdom") "shortsighted cleverness" *'' Sarugaku'' (猿楽, "monkey music") "a traditional form of comic theater, popular in Japan during the 11th to 14th centuries" *'' Sarushima'' (猿島, "monkey island") "a small island in
Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan spanning the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture, on the southern coast of the island of Honshu. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. Th ...
" *'' Sarumino'' (猿蓑 "monkey straw-raincoat"), "a 1691 anthology of
haiku is a type of short form poetry that originated in Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases composed of 17 Mora (linguistics), morae (called ''On (Japanese prosody), on'' in Japanese) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern; that include a ''kire ...
poetry" Personal names with the word ''saru'' "monkey" reflect semantically positive meanings of the monkey. Japanese scholars consider Sarumaru Dayū (猿丸大夫) to be either "a legendary poet of the Genkei period (877–884)" or "a name given to a number of itinerant priest-poets who formed a group named Sarumaru". Sarumatsu (猿松) was the childhood nickname of the ''
daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...
''
Uesugi Kenshin , later known as , was a Japanese ''daimyō'' (magnate). He was born in Nagao clan, and after adoption into the Uesugi clan, ruled Echigo Province in the Sengoku period of Japan. He was one of the most powerful ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period ...
(1530–1578). While most Japanese "monkey" words have positive denotations, there are a few pejorative exceptions. One is a native Japanese term: ''yamazaru'' (山猿, "mountain/wild monkey") "country bumpkin; hick; hillbilly". Two are Sino-Japanese loanwords for foreign monkeys: '' shōjō'' (猩々 "orangutan") "a mythical red-faced, red-haired god of wine, who was always drunk and dancing merrily" or "heavy drinker; drunk" and ''hihi'' (狒々 "baboon") "satyr; lecher; dirty old man". This Japanese Shōjō legend derives from Chinese traditions that the ''
xingxing Xing Xing ( Chinese: ) is a one-armed Tibetan macaque who lives in Daliang Mountains in the Chinese province of Zhejiang. She is a popular monkey within social media networks, especially from Chinese audiences, due to her publicity from photos ...
'' (猩猩 "orangutan") is fond of wine. Monkeys are a common trope in Japanese idioms: *''ken'en no naka'' (犬猿の仲, lit. "dog and monkey relationship") "a bad relationship; like cats and dogs" *''saru no shiri warai'' (猿の尻笑い, "monkey laughing at someone's buttocks") "laughing at someone's weakness while disregarding one's own weakness; the pot calling the kettle black" *''saru mo ki kara ochiru'' ( 猿も木から落ちる, "even monkeys fall from trees") "anyone can make a mistake" The opaque idiom ''tōrō ga ono, enkō ga tsuki'' (蟷螂が斧猿猴が月, lit. "axes for a praying mantis, moon for a monkey") means, "A praying mantis trying to crush the wheel of a cart with its forelegs (the axes) is portrayed as being as ridiculous as a monkey mistaking the reflection of the moon in the water for the moon itself and trying to capture it".


Chinese monkey lore

When the Japanese adapted
Chinese characters Chinese characters are logographs used Written Chinese, to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars, they represe ...
to write Japanese, such as using Chinese ''yuan'' 猿 "gibbon; monkey" for ''saru'' "macaque; monkey", they concurrently adopted many Chinese monkey customs and traditions. Some notable examples are: the Year of the
Monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...
in the
Chinese zodiac The Chinese zodiac is a traditional classification scheme based on the Chinese calendar that assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating twelve-year (or duodenary) cycle. The zodiac is very important in traditional ...
; the belief that "stable monkeys" will protect the health and safety of horses (see below); the traditional Chinese symbolic contrast between the superior, supernatural gibbon and the inferior, foolish macaque; and mythological monkeys like the '' Kakuen'' "a legendary monkey-man that abducts and rapes human women" (< Chinese ''jueyuan'' 玃猿) and the '' Shōjō'' "a god of wine with a red face and long, red hair" (< Chinese ''xingxing'' 猩猩 "monkey; orangutan").


Religion

Monkey deities are common among Japanese religious beliefs, including
Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...
, notably Sannō Shinto, Kōshin, and
Japanese Buddhism Buddhism was first established in Japan in the 6th century CE. Most of the Japanese Buddhists belong to new schools of Buddhism which were established in the Kamakura period (1185-1333). During the Edo period (1603–1868), Buddhism was cont ...
. In ancient Shinto tradition, '' Sarutahiko Ōkami'' (猿田彦大神, lit. "monkey-field prince great god") or ''Sarutahiko'' (also pronounced ''Sarudahiko'', ''Sarutabiko'', or ''Sarudabiko'') is a monkey-like God of Crossroads between heaven and earth. Sarutahiko Okami is worshipped at Tsubaki Grand Shrine in Mie and
Ōasahiko Shrine file:Ōasahiko-jinja torii.jpeg, Ōasahiko Shrine's main ''torii'' is a Shinto shrine in the Ōasachō-Bandō neighborhood of the city of Naruto, Tokushima, Naruto, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. It is one of the shrines claiming the title of ''ich ...
in
Tokushima is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Tokushima Prefecture has a population of 682,439 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,146 Square kilometre, km2 (1,601 sq mi). Tokushima Prefecture b ...
. The two earliest Japanese mytho-histories, the (712) ''
Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...
'' ("Record of Ancient Matters") and the (720) ''
Nihongi The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...
'' ("Chronicles of Japan"), both record Sarutahiko. One ''Kojiki'' chapter mentions him, "Now when this Deity Prince of Saruta dwelt at Azaka, he went out fishing, and had his hand caught by a ''hirabu'' shell-fish, and was drowned in the brine of the sea." The ''
Nihongi The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...
'' has a more detailed myth about the Crossroad God Sarutahiko no Okami. When the Sun Goddess
Amaterasu , often called Amaterasu () for short, also known as and , is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (''kami'') of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the () ...
, said to be the ancestress of the
Imperial House of Japan The is the reigning dynasty of Japan, consisting of those members of the extended family of the reigning emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present constitution of Japan, the emperor is "the symbol of the State ...
, decided to send her grandson Ninigi and other deities down to earth to govern, she first sent a scout to clear the way, who returned and reported encountering the fearsome Sarutahiko.
There is one God who dwells at the eight-cross-roads of Heaven, the length of whose nose is seven hands, the length of whose back is more than seven fathoms. Moreover, a light shines from his mouth and from his posteriors. His eye-balls are like an eight-hand mirror and have a ruddy glow like the Aka-kagachi.
Amaterasu chose Ame-no-Uzume as the only god or goddess who could confront Sarutahiko and ask why he was blocking the crossroads between heaven and earth, and said:
"Thou art superior to others in the power of thy looks. Thou hadst better go and question him." So Ame no Uzume forthwith bared her breasts and, pushing down the band of her garment below her navel, confronted him with a mocking laugh. arutahiko is shocked and explains that he is waiting to serve as guide for Ninigi"I have heard that the child of Ama-terasu no Oho-kami is now about to descend, and therefore I have come respectfully to meet and attend upon him. My name is Saruta-hiko no Oho-kami".
Sarutahito later marries Ame-no-Uzume. Ohnuki-Tierney lists three factors that identify Sarutahiko as a Monkey Deity: ''saru'' means "monkey", his features "include red buttocks, which are a prominent characteristic of Japanese macaques", and as macaques gather shellfish at low tide, the ''Kojiki'' says his hand got caught in a shell while fishing and "a monkey with one hand caught in a shell is a frequent theme of Japanese folktales". Another Shinto monkey myth concerns the God of Lightning
Raijin , also known as , , , , and Kamowakeikazuchi-no-kami is a god of lightning, thunder, and Storm, storms in Japanese mythology and the Shinto and Buddhism, Buddhist religion. He is typically depicted with fierce and aggressive facial expressions ...
who is accompanied by shape-shifting ''
raijū In Japanese mythology, the is a legendary creature associated with lightning and thunder, as well as the god Raijin. Mythology A ''raijūs body is composed of (or wrapped in) lightning and commonly conceived of as taking the form of a white ...
'' (雷獣,"thunder beast")
ball lightning Ball lightning is a rare and unexplained phenomenon described as Luminosity, luminescent, spherical objects that vary from pea-sized to several meters in diameter. Though usually associated with thunderstorms, the observed phenomenon is repor ...
that sometimes appeared as a monkey. ''Sarugami'' (猿神, lit. "monkey god") was part of the Sannō Shintō sect, which was based upon the cult of the Mountain God '' Sannō'' (山王, "mountain king") and
Tendai , also known as the Tendai Dharma Flower School (天台法華宗, ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just ''Hokkeshū''), is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition with significant esoteric elements that was officially established in Japan in 806 by t ...
Buddhism. Sarugami was Sannō's messenger, and served as an intermediary between deities and humans. Sannō and Sarugami are worshipped at
Hiyoshi Taisha is a Shinto shrine located in the city of Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture Japan. This shrine is one of the Twenty-Two Shrines. Known before World War II as or Hie jinja, "Hiyoshi" is now the preferred spelling. It was also known as the . The head shr ...
Shrine in Ōtsu, Shiga. The Mountain and Monkey Gods Sannō and Sarugami became popular during the early Tokugawa or
Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...
, who unified Japan in 1590 and ended the
Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...
, was nicknamed Kosaru ("small monkey") or Saru ("monkey"), "not only because his face looked like a monkey's, but also because he eagerly sought identification with the monkey".
Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...
, who was the first shōgun (1603–1605) of the Tokugawa shogunate, "officially designated the Monkey Deity as the guardian of peace in the nation, and a festival for the deity was elaborately carried out in Edo" during his reign. During this period, a genre of paintings illustrated the Monkey God as a messenger from the Mountain God, depicting him dancing during rice harvesting, or holding a '' gohei'' "a ritual wand with pendant paper streamers" ritualistically used by Shinto priests to summon the spirit of a deity. Thus, Ohnuki-Tierney says, "the monkey in these paintings is assigned the role of mediating between deities and humans, just as shamans and priests do". The role of monkeys as mediators is evident within the Japanese '' Kōshin''
folk religion Folk religion, traditional religion, or vernacular religion comprises, according to religious studies and folkloristics, various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized religion. ...
. This eclectic belief system incorporates
Daoist Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ' ...
beliefs about the ''sanshi'' (三尸, " Three Corpses") "evil spirits that live in the human body and hasten death", Shinto Sarugami mythology (above), and
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
beliefs about simian gods such as the Vānara "a monkey-like humanoid" in the ''
Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...
''. ''Shōmen-Kongō'' (青面金剛, "Blue-face
Vajra The Vajra (, , ), is a legendary and ritualistic tool, symbolizing the properties of a diamond (indestructibility) and a thunderbolt (irresistible force). It is also described as a "ritual weapon". The use of the bell and vajra together as s ...
" "a fearsome, many-armed, Kōshin guardian deity", who was supposedly able to make the Three Corpses sick and thus prevent them from reporting to Heaven, was commonly depicted with two or three monkey attendants. In Daoist-Kōshin beliefs, the bodily Three Corpses keep records of their host's misdeeds, which they report to Heaven bimonthly on the night ''gengshen'' (Japanese ''kōshin'') 庚申 "57th of the 60 (in the Chinese
Sexagenary cycle The sexagenary cycle, also known as the gānzhī (干支) or stems-and-branches, is a cycle of sixty terms, each corresponding to one year, thus amounting to a total of sixty years every cycle, historically used for recording time in China and t ...
)" while their human host is dreaming. But in a type of karmic loophole, someone who stays awake throughout that day and night can avoid receiving a shorter lifespan for their transgressions. The Japanese version of this custom, ''Kōshin-Machi'' (庚申待, "Kōshin Waiting"), became an all-night party among friends. The ''sanzaru'' (三猿 "three monkeys") or English "
Three Wise Monkeys The are a Japanese pictorial Maxim (philosophy), maxim, embodying the proverbial principle "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". The three monkeys are * , covering his eyes * , covering his ears * , covering his mouth. Lafcadio Hearn re ...
" is a widely known example of monkeys in traditional Japanese culture. Their names are a pun between ''saru'' or vocalized ''zaru'' "monkey" and archaic ''-zaru'' "a negative verb conjugation": ''mizaru, kikazaru, iwazaru'' (見ざる, 聞かざる, 言わざる, lit. "don't see, don't hear, don't speak"). The
Tōshō-gū A is a Shinto shrine in which Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616), the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, is enshrined. List of Tōshō-gū, Tōshō-gūs are found throughout Japan. The most well-known Tōshō-gū is the Nikkō Tōshō-gū located i ...
shrine in
Nikkō is a Cities of Japan, city in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. , the city's population was 80,239, in 36,531 households. The population density was 55 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Nikkō is a popular destination for Japanese and ...
has elaborate
relief carving In wood carving relief carving is a type in which figures or patterns are carved in a flat panel of wood; the same term is also used for carving in stone, ivory carving and various other materials. The figures project only slightly from the bac ...
s over the doors, including a famous representation of the Three Wise Monkeys. The Three Wise Monkeys also represent the Kōshin faith. They are displayed in the Yasaka Kōshin-dō Temple in
Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto is one of the eleven Wards of Kyoto, wards in the Municipalities of Japan, city of Kyoto, Kyoto, Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. History It was created in 1929 when it was split off from Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto, Shimogyō-ku. During the years ...
, dedicated to ''Shōmen Kongō'', known by his nickname ''Kōshin-san'' (庚申さん) with the ''-san'' suffix for "Mr.; Ms.; Mrs.". This shrine also sells a kind of '' sarubobo'' (猿ぼぼ, "monkey baby") "red, faceless doll amulet" called the ''kukurizaru'' (くくり猿) believed to represent the good luck of monkeys. Ohnuki-Tierney explains the meaning and the role of kōshin centered on mediation, "between temporal cycles, between humans and deities, and between heaven and earth. It is with this mediating deity that the monkey became associated, thereby further reinforcing the meaning of the monkey as mediator". Saeno kami (障の神, "border god"), later known as
Dōsojin is a generic name for a type of Shinto ''kami'' popularly worshipped in Kantō and neighboring areas in Japan where, as tutelary deity, tutelary deities of borders and paths, they are believed to protect travellers, pilgrims, villages, and individ ...
(道祖神, "road ancestor god"), is a Shinto tutelary deity of boundaries, which is usually placed at spatial boundaries, especially the boundary of a community, and is believed to protect people from epidemics and evil spirits. In popular belief, Saeno kami was merged with Shinto Sarutahiko, and later with Buddhist Jizō or Ksitigarbha "the
bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...
of souls in hell and guardian of children". This amalgamation, says Ohnuki-Tierney, "resulted in stone statues of a monkey wearing a bib, which is a trademark of Jizō, a guardian Buddha of children".


Literature

Monkeys are occasionally mentioned in early Japanese literature. Only one of the 4,500 poems in the (8th century) ''
Man'yōshū The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in ...
'' mentions monkeys. Its author Ōtomo no Tabito "ridicules sober people for having faces as ugly as that of a monkey, while he justifies and praises drunks". The (c. 787–824) ''
Nihon Ryōiki The is an early Heian period setsuwa collection. Written by Kyōkai between 787 and 824, it is Japan's oldest collection of Buddhist setsuwa. It is three volumes in length. Title Commonly abbreviated as ''Nihon Ryōiki'', which means "Record ...
'' collection of Buddhist '' setsuwa'' has a story about a female saint who first was mockingly called a ''saru'' "monkey" pretending to be something she is not, and later honorifically named with ''
sari A sari (also called sharee, saree or sadi)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * is a drape (cloth) and a women's garment in the Indian subcontinent. It consists of an un-sti ...
'' "ashes of the Buddha". ''Utsubozaru'' (靱猿, lit. "quiver monkey") The Monkey Skin Quiver is a ''
kyōgen is a form of traditional Japanese comic theater. It developed alongside '' Noh'', was performed along with ''Noh'' as an intermission of sorts between ''Noh'' acts on the same stage, and retains close links to ''Noh'' in the modern day; there ...
'' play in which a monkey dances with a lord who has just spared his life.
A Daimyō goes out hunting with his servant Taro Kaja, and on the way they meet a Monkey Trainer. The Daimyō wants to borrow the Monkey's skin to cover his quiver. The Trainer, of course, refuses so the Daimyō gets angry and threatens to kill both the Trainer and the Monkey. The Trainer finally agrees, and asks for a few minutes to say goodbye. He also says that instead of shooting the Monkey with an arrow, which would harm the skin, he will kill it himself. He starts to strike the Monkey, and the Monkey mistakes his action for a signal to perform, so it grabs the stick and uses it as an oar. The Trainer begins to cry, the Daimyō asks the reason, and the Trainer replies that he has raised and trained the Monkey from the time it was born, so it is like a son to him. The Daimyō is greatly moved, and decides not to kill either the Monkey or the Trainer. In gratitude, the Monkey performs and the Trainer sings. The Daimyō presents his fan, sword, and even his own clothes to the Monkey Trainer; then he begins to dance and perform with the Monkey, thus ending on a happy note.
The (c. 1596–1607) ''Inu makura'' or '' The Dog Pillow'' collection includes the description "red leaves dried out like a monkey's buttocks" (猿の尻木枯らししらぬ紅葉かな).


Folklore

Monkeys are a common theme in Japanese folktales and
fairy tales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the Folklore, folklore genre. Such stories typically feature Magic (supernatural), magic, Incantation, e ...
. The monkey is a malicious trickster in ''Saru Kani Gassen'' (" Battle of the Crab and the Monkey") over a rice-ball and a
persimmon The persimmon () is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus '' Diospyros''. The most widely cultivated of these is the Chinese and Japanese kaki persimmon, ''Diospyros kaki''. In 2022, China produced 77% of the world's p ...
seed.
In one widespread version, the monkey takes a rice ball from a crab in exchange for a persimmon seed, explaining to the crab that there is nothing left of a rice ball after its consumption, whereas a persimmon seed will grow and bear fruit. When the crab manages to grow the tree, which bears much fruit, the crab asks the monkey to fetch a persimmon. The monkey climbs up the tree and throws a persimmon at the crab, injuring or killing her, depending on the version. Eventually, the crab (or her children, in the version in which she is killed) and her sympathizers (a chestnut, a needle, a wasp, a mortar, dung, and so forth, depending upon the region) take revenge on the monkey.
In ''
Momotarō is a Folk hero, popular hero of Japanese folklore. His name is often translated as ''Peach Boy'', but is directly translated as ''Peach + Tarō (given name), Tarō'', a common Japanese given name. ''Momotarō'' is also the title of various books, ...
'' ("Peach Boy"), the hero is befriended by three talking animals, a monkey, a dog, and a pheasant. The monkey serves as a mediator in several folktales. The (13th century) ''Zatsudanshū'' has a story about a diligent man and a lazy man who once lived at the foot of a mountain.
The hard-working man worked in the field from early morning till evening to grow soybeans and red beans. One day he became tired and fell asleep, whereupon monkeys came and thought he was a Buddha. They gave him yams and other offerings and went back to the mountain. The man took the offerings home. Upon hearing this story, the wife of the lazy man urged her husband to do the same. The monkeys carried him across the river to ensconce him there. While they were carrying him on their arms, the monkeys said, "We should raise our ''hakama'' skirt-like garment for men, and they stroked their fur to imitate the gesture of raising the ''hakama''. Upon seeing this, the man laughed. The monkeys said that he was a man, instead of a Buddha, and threw him into the river. He was drenched, swallowed a great deal of water, and narrowly escaped his death. Upon hearing of the incident, his wife became enraged. "One should never engage in superficial imitation of others".
These monkeys act as "sacred mediators who on behalf of the Mountain Deity punish a lazy man and his wife for engaging in superficial imitation of their neighbors, while they themselves are imitating humans". ''Saru Jizō'' (猿地蔵, "Monkey Jizo") was a later version of this tale in which the monkeys mistake both men for a ''Jizō'' Buddha rather than simply a Buddha. Some folktales portray the monkey as a trickster who tries to outsmart others. Take for instance, ''Kurage honenashi'' (水母骨なし) "Boneless Jellyfish". When the Dragon King hears that eating a live monkey's liver is the only medicine that will save his queen from dying, he sends his trusted servant fish to cross the ocean, go to the monkey-land, and convince a live monkey to return to the dragon-land. While they are traveling across the ocean, the monkey learns that the king will cut out his liver, and tells the fish that he left his liver hanging on a tree in monkey-land, where they return to find the tree empty. When the fish swims back to dragon-land and reports what happened, the king realizes the monkey's deception, and orders his officers to break every bone in the fish's body and beat him to a jelly, which is why jellyfish do not have bones.


Art

Monkeys are a traditional motif in
Japanese art Japanese art consists of a wide range of art styles and media that includes Jōmon pottery, ancient pottery, Japanese sculpture, sculpture, Ink wash painting, ink painting and Japanese calligraphy, calligraphy on silk and paper, Ukiyo-e, paint ...
. The (12th and 13th centuries) '' Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga'' picture scrolls depict
anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...
animals, notably monkeys and rabbits bathing, monkeys and rabbits wrestling, and a monkey thief running from rabbits and frogs with sticks. Since the gibbon's habitat did not include Japan, the Japanese were unfamiliar with its long-limbed, tailless appearance until the 13th century, mainly through the paintings of the
Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
Zen priest and artist Muqi (牧溪, Japanese Mokkei 牧谿), who immigrated to Kyoto. Muqi's "work was eagerly studied in Japan, and a number of painters adopted his calligraphic style of rendering the gibbon". Muqi's masterful "Guanyin", "Monkeys" (depicting a mother and infant gibbons), and "Crane" scrolls, which are one of the
National Treasures of Japan Some of the National Treasures of Japan A is " Tangible Cultural Properties designated by law in modern Japan as having extremely high value." Specifically, it refers to buildings, arts, and crafts designated as especially valuable from ...
, became the model for drawing gibbons. Many prominent Edo-period (1603–1867) painters, including
Hasegawa Tōhaku was a Japanese Painting, painter and founder of the Hasegawa school. He is considered one of the great painters of the Azuchi–Momoyama period (1573-1603), and he is best known for his folding screens, such as ''Shōrin-zu byōbu, Pine Trees ...
, Kusumi Morikage, and Kanō Tsunenobu, who had never seen gibbons, depicted them following the ''Bokkei-zaru'' (牧谿猿) "Muqi's gibbons" artistic tradition. Mori Sosen (1747–1821), who was the "undisputed master" of painting the Japanese macaque, influenced later paintings of gibbons, which, in the absence of live models, were sometimes represented with the macaque's red face and brown fur. Muqi's gibbons were usually drawn in nature, while Japanese macaques were often depicted among humans or human-made objects. Ohnuki-Tierney notes that gibbons "represented nature, which in folk Shintoism signified deities" and also "represented the Chinese art tradition (''kanga''), which in turn represented the Chinese, who were then the most significant foreigners". She posits four levels symbolized by Japanese macaque/gibbon contrast: Japanese/foreigners, humans/deities, culture/nature, and self/other. The ''Kenkadō zarsuroku'' (蒹葭堂雜錄, 1856), by Kimura Kenkadō (木村蒹葭堂), records a gibbon imported to Japan, and includes a calligraphic drawing by Mori Sosen. In 1809, a gibbon was exhibited in the
Dōtonbori is a district in Osaka, Japan. Known as one of Osaka's principal tourist and nightlife areas, the area runs along the Dōtonbori canal from Dōtonboribashi Bridge to Nipponbashi, Nipponbashi Bridge in the Namba district of the city's Chūō-ku, O ...
red-light district of
Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...
.
Although we have heard the word "gibbon" 'en'' or ''saru'' 猨since olden times, and seen pictures of him, we never have seen a live specimen, and therefore a large crowd assembled to see this gibbon. Generally he resembles a large macaque, and figure and fur are very similar. The face is black, the fur grey with a touch of brown. The Hollander "Captain" Hendrik Doeff .e., the Dutch Dejima trading post commissioner, Hendrik Doeff">Dejima.html" ;"title=".e., the Dutch Dejima">.e., the Dutch Dejima trading post commissioner, Hendrik Doeff] who was then staying here said that this gibbon occurs on the island of Java where it is called "wau-wau". Truly an extraordinary sight!Tr. .
Van Gulik suggests this Indonesian language, Indonesian ''owa jawa'' " silvery gibbon" specimen was brought to Japan on a Dutch ship. As the
Monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...
is part of the
Chinese zodiac The Chinese zodiac is a traditional classification scheme based on the Chinese calendar that assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating twelve-year (or duodenary) cycle. The zodiac is very important in traditional ...
, which has been used for centuries in Japan, the creature was sometimes portrayed in paintings of the Edo period as a tangible metaphor for a particular year. The 19th-century artist and
samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...
Watanabe Kazan created a painting of a macaque. During the
Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
, numerous '' netsuke'', ''
tsuba Japanese sword mountings are the various housings and associated fittings (''Commons:Tosogu (Japanese sword fittings), tosogu'') that hold the blade of a Japanese sword when it is being worn or stored. refers to the ornate mountings of a Japane ...
'', and other artifacts were decorated with monkeys.


Cuisine

Eating monkey meat, which is a long-standing tradition in China, is uncommon in Japanese culture. Archaeological excavations have found monkey bones at sites dated from the hunting-gathering
Jōmon period In Japanese history, the is the time between , during which Japan was inhabited by the Jōmon people, a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united by a common culture, which reached a considerable degree of sedentism an ...
(c. 14,000–300 BCE) but not at sites from the agricultural
Yayoi period The Yayoi period (弥生時代, ''Yayoi jidai'') (c. 300 BC – 300 AD) is one of the major historical periods of the Japanese archipelago. It is generally defined as the era between the beginning of food production in Japan and the emergence o ...
(300 BCE-250 CE) and later. Besides being a source of food for the hunters, monkeys were a menace to farmers because they stole crops. Since the avoidance of monkey meat infers people seeing the proximity between monkeys and themselves, Ohnuki-Tierney concludes that Japanese beliefs about the "semideified status and the positive role of mediation between humans and deities" began in the Yayoi era. Buddhist thought affected some Japanese attitudes toward monkeys; the ''Nihongi'' records that in 676,
Emperor Tenmu was the 40th Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 天武天皇 (40) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 53. He ascended ...
issued a law the prohibited eating the meat of cattle, horses, dogs, monkeys, and chickens. Even today, in the regions northeast of the Ryōhaku Mountains in
Ishikawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,096,721 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,186 Square kilometre, km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Pr ...
, "hunters observe no taboo in regard to monkey hunting, while those in the regions southwest of the mountain range observe numerous taboos".


Horse guardian and healer

Following Chinese traditions that keeping a monkey in a stable would protect horses from diseases and accidents, the Japanese gave monkeys the important role of horse guardians, honorifically called the ''umayagami'' (厩神, "stables god"). This belief gave rise to two related practices. First, both samurais and farmers covered their quivers with monkey hides so as to harness the protective power of the monkey over horses. Second, people drew horse pictures on '' ema'' (絵馬, lit. "picture horse") "votive wooden plaques" and offered them at Shinto shrines to ensure the health of their horses. "A large number of ''ema'' from various historical periods and regions of Japan depict monkeys pulling horses, providing rich evidence that the monkey functioned as guardian of horses." Monkeys were believed to scare away other animals and pests, and farmers in southern Japan fed monkeys in order to protect their fields. The ''
Kōjien is a single-volume Japanese dictionary first published by Iwanami Shoten in 1955. It is widely regarded as the most authoritative dictionary of Japanese, and newspaper editorials frequently cite its definitions. As of 2007, it had sold 11 mi ...
'' dictionary says ''sarumawashi'' (猿回し) "monkey trainer" derives from ''saruhiki'' (猿曳き "monkey puller"), and quotes Japanese folklore scholar
Kunio Yanagita was a Japanese author, scholar, and Folklore studies, folklorist. He began his career as a bureaucrat, but developed an interest in rural Japan and its folk traditions. This led to a change in his career. His pursuit of this led to his eventual e ...
that trainers were also originally ''bai'' (馬医 "horse doctors"). Yanagita also described the ancient
Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, , or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains ...
custom of ''umayazaru'' (厩猿 "stables monkey") that was mentioned in the '' Ryōjin Hishō'' and '' Kokon Chomonjū''. This "stable monkey" originally referred to monkeys living in stables in order to protect the health and safety of horses, and later referred to putting up a symbolic monkey skull, paw, or picture. The monkey's role in healing was not limited to horses, but also extended to monkey deities and monkey medicines. The supernatural beings associated with the monkey—''kōshin'', ''saeno kami'', and ''jizō''—"are all assigned the role of healing." Many parts of the monkey's body have been used as medicine, since at least the 6th century. "Even today, a charred monkey's head, pounded into powder, is taken as medicine for illnesses of the head and brain, including mental illnesses, mental retardation, and headaches." Furthermore, representations of monkeys are believed to have healing powers. Three Wise Monkey figurines are used as charms to prevent illnesses. ''Kukurizaru'' "small stuffed monkey amulets" are thought to be "efficacious in treating various other illnesses, as well as childbirth."


Gallery

File:Kukurizaru talismans and monkey statue (Yasaka Koshindo Temple, Kyoto).jpg, ''Kukuizaru'' and a monkey statue at Yasaka Kōshin-dō File:Chouju swimming.jpg, Monkeys and rabbits bathing, Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga, c. 12th century File:Japanese Macaque-Watanabe Kazan.jpg, Macaque painting by Watanabe Kazan, 19th century File:Apes in a persimmon-tree.jpg, ''Monkeys in a persimmon-tree'', Mori Sosen File:Monkeys on a Limb--17th Century Painting by Sosen.jpg, ''Monkeys on a limb'', Mori Sosen File:Japanese - Covered Box Showing an Octopus and Monkey at Tug-of-War - Walters 52163 - Top.jpg, Iron, gold, and silver box showing a monkey and octopus tug-of-war File:Iwama Masayoshi - Tsuba with Monkeys - Walters 51297.jpg, Edo-era ''
tsuba Japanese sword mountings are the various housings and associated fittings (''Commons:Tosogu (Japanese sword fittings), tosogu'') that hold the blade of a Japanese sword when it is being worn or stored. refers to the ornate mountings of a Japane ...
'' sword guard depicting adult and young monkeys File:BLW Inro with Monkeys in Human Guises.jpg, Edo-era lacquer ''
inro An is a traditional Japanese case for holding small objects, suspended from the (sash) worn around the waist when wearing a kimono. They are often highly decorated with various materials such as lacquer and various techniques such as , and are ...
'' container showing 115 anthropomorphic monkeys File:'Waterfall and Monkeys' by Shibata Zeshin.jpg, ''Waterfall and monkeys'',
Shibata Zeshin was a Japanese lacquer Japanese painting, painter and print artist of the Edo period, late Edo period and early Meiji era. He has been called "Japan's greatest lacquerer", but his reputation as painter and print artist is more complex: In Japa ...
, 1872 File:Ohara monkey-moon.jpg, ''Gibbon reaching for the moon's reflection'', Ohara Koson, 1926 File:Love is a Chilly Fire Between us.jpg, ''Saru dango'' (猿団子, "monkey dango") of three Snow Monkeys


References

* 1972 Tuttle reprint. * * Keene, Donald (2006), ''Frog In The Well: Portraits of Japan by Watanabe Kazan 1793–1841'', Columbia University Press. * * Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko (1990a),
Monkey as Metaphor? Transformations of A Polytropic Symbol in Japanese Culture
, ''Man'' (N.S.) 25:399–416. * Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko (1990b),
The Monkey as Self in Japanese Culture
, in ''Culture Through Time'', Emikio Ohnuki-Tierney, ed., Stanford Univ. Press, 128–153. * Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko (1984),
Monkey Performances – A Multiple Structure of Meaning and Reflexivity in Japanese Culture
, in ''Text, Play and Story'', E. Bruner, ed., American Ethnological Society, 278–314. * Okada Yuzuru (1951), ''Netsuke: A Miniature Art of Japan'', Japan Travel Bureau. * Footnotes {{reflist, refs= Yamanaka Jōta (山中襄太) (1976), ''Kokugo gogen jiten'' (国語語源辞典), Vol. 1, Azekura shobo (校倉書房). p. 253 {{in lang, ja. Batchelor, John (1905), ''An Ainu-English-Japanese Dictionary'', Methodist Publishing House. p. 22. Yamanaka Jōta (山中襄太) (1985), ''Kokugo gogen jiten'' (国語語源辞典), Vol. 2, Azekura shobo (校倉書房). p. 410 {{in lang, ja. Turner, Ralph Lilley (1999), ''A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages'', Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. , a
p. 568
Carr, Michael (1993), "'Mind-Monkey' Metaphors in Chinese and Japanese Dictionaries," ''International Journal of Lexicography'' 6.3:149–180 (p. 167). Chamberlain, Basil H., tr. 1919

Asiatic Society of Japan. 2005 Tuttle reprint. p. 139.
LaFleur, William R. (1983), ''The Karma of Words: Buddhism and the Literary Arts in Medieval Japan'', University of California Press. pp. 42, 169. Sebeok, Thomas Albert (1986), ''I Think I am a Verb: More Contributions to the Doctrine of Signs'', Springer-Verlag. p. 120. Chamberlain, Basil H. (1887),
The Silly Jelly-fish
, Kobunsha.


External links



Mark Schumacher Culture of Japan Mammals of Japan Monkeys in popular culture