An unusual, mysterious and peculiar country, Japan never ceases to amaze and interest its Western neighbors. Its culture slowly penetrates the thoughts and habits of citizens of other states, albeit still limited to cooking, cars and cartoons. When trying to comprehend Japanese culture, the main thing is not to try to directly interpret any symbol: the Japanese meaning is sometimes directly opposite to what the Europeans put into the image. It is better to listen and read what the Japanese themselves think about this.
Symbolism in Japan
As a state completely isolated by water from other continents and highly dependent on the vagaries of the ocean and its gifts, the Land of the Rising Sun is very respectful of marine life. Almost every ocean inhabitant for the inhabitants of the archipelago is some kind of symbol. The Japanese octopus, for example, represents love. And not fraternal or maternal, but the most carnal. By serving a Japanese man a dish of octopus, you openly invite him to bed. And he has no right to refuse!
Sacred Carp
Almost every Japanese fish has its special sacred meaning. The symbol best known and most loved by the Japanese is the carp. On the islands, it has the name "koi" and is considered the embodiment of strength and courage. This is explained by the persistence of carp going to spawn. Koi is able to jump out of the water higher than one and a half meters, swim against a strong current and always overcome it. In this regard, the Japanese carp acts as the patron of men. Koinobori - fish-shaped flags - are hung on Boys' Day on the house, sometimes - according to the number of all men living in it. In this case, the black color is assigned to the father, red - to the eldest son (sometimes mother), blue - to each of the children.
Yellow carp is perceived as a completely different symbol: the Japanese koi in this case becomes the personification of love. However, not as aggressive and down to earth as an octopus. Rather, it symbolizes the strength of marriage bonds. No wonder newlyweds in Japan consider it obligatory to release a yellow koi into the pond: it becomes, as it were, a guarantor of family happiness.
Another "good" fish is perch, in Japanese "tai". There are seven good luck gods in the pantheon of this country. One of them, Ebisu, is depicted with this fish in his hands. It is believed that tai brings good luck in the works of the righteous and new, but only good undertakings.
Japanese fish - a symbol of evil and death
The Land of the Rising Sun is distinguished by a certain rigidity and even cruelty. This people, perhaps, has more punishing and threatening images than benevolent ones.and patrons. And the Japanese symbol of death personifies, of course, a shark. Moreover, in addition to the end of life, it can mean both undisguised evil, and bad intentions, and danger - ferocious and almost inevitable.
The explanation for the attributed qualities is easy to find. Initially, Japan was a country of fishermen and sailors. And in the ocean you will not find a more formidable predator than a shark. Its inherent cunning with perseverance makes the fish an even more formidable opponent.
Dual image
For all the apprehension with which the inhabitants of Japan perceive the shark, it is also a sacred animal. If the fishermen have to hunt for a shark, it is preceded by special rituals, since the predator can also be a messenger of the deity. In this case, it will be called Same. Moreover, with a respectful attitude towards her, the divine shark helps the sailors: her power is enough to provide the ship with good weather, and the crew - the richest catch. If you make yourself a tattoo in the form of an inhabitant of sea waters, then, according to legend, it will become a wonderful amulet and will protect against a variety of troubles in life.
Water Bijuu
Sacred representations of the Japanese suggest the existence of highly specialized tailed demons, each of which is responsible for a certain element. By the way, the Japanese have five of them: lightning is added to the usual Europeans earth, water, fire and air (in the Japanese tradition - wind). The biju water demon is depicted as a horned shark. Although some of the picturesthere is a cross between a toad and a turtle, which has three fangs and a tail. Storms and tsunamis are the consequences of the rise of the demon shark from the depths. Bloodlust, ruthlessness and aggressiveness - these are the features of the symbol of death and evil.
The minions of this demon can get certain "gingerbread" from him, but they are very expensive to pay for. This is the difference between the demon shark and the divine messenger Same.
Other sinister animals
Some researchers often argue which Japanese fish is a symbol of death. Although the shark is undoubtedly the most terrifying ocean animal, there are other images of evil among the horror stories of Japan. The most famous deep-sea catfish, called Namazu by Japanese fishermen. However, this is a slightly different symbol: the Japanese people rather attribute to him non-personalized forces of nature, the blind fury of the elements. Rather, it can be said that Namazu personifies (and, according to some beliefs, portends) terrible cataclysms that threaten misfortunes and deaths.
Eel doesn't have a very good reputation either. Despite the fact that it is a favorite ingredient in many national dishes, this underwater inhabitant often acts as a symbol of cunning and sudden death. Probably, they eat it to prevent the latter and destroy insidious plans.
On the southern islands of the Japanese archipelago, for some reason, a harmless manta ray sometimes appears as a frightening image of death. Probably the reason for this is the peculiarappearance, for which the harmless animal received the nickname "sea devil" from European sailors and overgrown with a huge number of scary stories.
