SYMBOLS TO ENJOY AT HATSUGAMA NO SHIKI 2025
HAGOITA 羽子板 AND HANE 羽 battledore and shuttlecock are for playing hanetsuki 羽根つき– an early form of badminton played without a net. It was a popular game among young women at new year celebrations.
HATSUYUME 初夢 the three auspicious dreams of the New Year are Mt. Fuji, a hawk, and an eggplant. Because Fujisan is the highest mountain in Japan, dreaming of it foretells success or achievement. The hawk is a clever and strong bird, and one would wish those qualities for oneself or one's offspring. The word for eggplant nasu sounds like the word for accomplishing something great or succeeding at something difficult. Supposedly you can encourage such dreams by placing a picture of the takarabune under your pillow.
MUSUBI YANAGI 結び柳 willow knot is traditionally displayed in the tokonoma at Hatsugama in the Urasenke tradition of Tea. A bundle of willow branches are encircled by a looped branch, symbolizing the connections that bind us together and that continue from the old year to the new. The circle of the loop may symbolize the moon or the sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami.
SHIMADAI 結び柳 Isle of the Immortals is a mythical island where the immortals dwelt. They traveled to and from there on the backs of cranes. A pair of stacked tea bowls of red raku ware, one lined with gold, one with silver are called Shimadai. One has a pentagonal foot, symbolizing the crane, and one a hexagonal foot, symbolizing the great tortoise upon which the world sits. In the process of whisking matcha in these bowls, some of the gold or silver is brushed off and incorporated into the tea, as a wish for prosperity for those who drink.
SHIPPO 七宝 seven treasure pattern consisting of interlocking circles is symbolic of endless peace and happiness. "Shippo" in Buddhism refers to the seven treasures -- gold, silver, pearls, agate, crystal, coral, and lapis lazuli.
SHOCHIKUBAI 松竹梅 pine, bamboo, and plum, the "three friends" winter will often appear in combination on tea utensils. They all endure harsh winter weather with fortitude and thus provide models for living. The pine stays green regardless of conditions, the bamboo, technically a grass, bends but does not break in fierce winds, and the plum, although a delicate seeming flower, blossoms in the coldest months of the year.
TAKARABUNE 宝船 treasure ship is a mythical ship carrying the seven lucky gods, and bringing treasures physical, magical, and philosophical to the new year.
TAKARABUKURO 宝袋 treasure bag is similar to the takarabune, but a large bag supposedly full of treasure. Cold water jars and tea caddies can sometimes take the form of a takarabukuro.
TAWARA 俵 bale, a rice bale measuring one koku (330 US pounds), is a symbol of wealth and material prosperity. The koku in Japan was typically used as a dry measure. The amount of rice production measured in koku was the metric by which the magnitude of a feudal domain was evaluated. A feudal lord was only considered daimyō class when his domain amounted to at least 10,000 koku. As a rule of thumb, one koku was considered a sufficient quantity of rice to feed one person for one year. As the essential food of Japan, one always hopes for an abundant rice harvest.
TSURU 鶴 KAME 亀 Cranes and Tortoise are symbols of longevity, representing 1,000 years and 10,000 years respectively.
KAGURA SUZU 神楽鈴 clusters of small hand bells are associated with Shinto shrines and used by priestesses to summon the gods kami and repel evil.