Theory on the F-4300, F-4400 Oriental figures
Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 11:58 am
Until just recently, my CJ collecting focus has been on the early metal japanned prizes. I've just started looking at the 40's-60's plastic prizes, and started a collection of the CCC "woodcuts".
The Oriental figures struck me as an interesting series also. I looked through some old threads and it seems that these are generally thought to be Chinese people/gods, etc.
However, I believe they represent the 7 Japanese gods of fortune. The fact that there are 7 different characters, and that they seem to match up, appears to be too much of a coincidence for them not to be the 7 gods of fortune.
Hotei - god of abundance and health, (F-4400-2 the seated "happy fat man")
Ebisu - god of fisherman and merchants usually depicted holding a fish. (F-4400-1, man holding fish)
Benzaiten - goddess of knowledge/art/music depicted in the lotus sitting position (F-4320-1, seated man with hands folded in prayer) It's obviously a female character, despite being described as a man in the CJ reference book.
Bishamonten - god of warriors depicted holding a pagoda (F-4400-4, man holding object)
Diakokuten - god of wealth and commerce (F-4400-3, man holding round objects)
Jurojin - god of longevity (F-4300-1 man with basket, hair parted)
Fukurokuju - god of longevity/happiness (F-4300-2 man with basket, hair not parted)
The last two are almost identical gods in Japanese mythology, which may explain why the CJ characters are almost identical.
I'm not certain on the character identifications. The characters depicted don't always match up with the descriptions of the gods, i.e. beards, holding a staff, etc.
It's just a theory, but it seems to fit better than the random "Chinese god/character" identification.
Let me know what you think and if anyone has pictures of these in their collection, please feel free to post them.
Don
The Oriental figures struck me as an interesting series also. I looked through some old threads and it seems that these are generally thought to be Chinese people/gods, etc.
However, I believe they represent the 7 Japanese gods of fortune. The fact that there are 7 different characters, and that they seem to match up, appears to be too much of a coincidence for them not to be the 7 gods of fortune.
Hotei - god of abundance and health, (F-4400-2 the seated "happy fat man")
Ebisu - god of fisherman and merchants usually depicted holding a fish. (F-4400-1, man holding fish)
Benzaiten - goddess of knowledge/art/music depicted in the lotus sitting position (F-4320-1, seated man with hands folded in prayer) It's obviously a female character, despite being described as a man in the CJ reference book.
Bishamonten - god of warriors depicted holding a pagoda (F-4400-4, man holding object)
Diakokuten - god of wealth and commerce (F-4400-3, man holding round objects)
Jurojin - god of longevity (F-4300-1 man with basket, hair parted)
Fukurokuju - god of longevity/happiness (F-4300-2 man with basket, hair not parted)
The last two are almost identical gods in Japanese mythology, which may explain why the CJ characters are almost identical.
I'm not certain on the character identifications. The characters depicted don't always match up with the descriptions of the gods, i.e. beards, holding a staff, etc.
It's just a theory, but it seems to fit better than the random "Chinese god/character" identification.
Let me know what you think and if anyone has pictures of these in their collection, please feel free to post them.
Don