Takarabune

A picture of the ship forms an essential part of traditional Japanese New Year celebrations.

The gods carry with them takaramono (宝物), or treasure things, including the hat of invisibility (隠れ笠, kakuregasa), rolls of brocade (織物, orimono), the inexhaustible purse (金袋 kanebukuro), the secret keys to the treasure shed of the gods (鍵 kagi), the scrolls of books of wisdom and life (巻き物 makimono), the magic mallet (小槌 kozuchi), the lucky raincoat (隠れ蓑, kakuremino), the robe of fairy feathers (羽衣, hagoromo), and the bag of fortune (布袋 nunobukuro).

[1] A picture of the ship forms an essential part of traditional Japanese New Year celebrations.

[2] According to custom, placing a Takarabune woodblock print beneath a pillow on the night of 2 January may induce a lucky dream – a sign that the year to come will be fortunate.

[3] Many Takarabune prints show a crane above and a turtle below, representative of longevity and felicity,[4] as well as a palindromic poem which tells of a long night in a boat.

Coloured woodblock print ( ukiyo-e ) of the Takarabune by Utagawa Hiroshige .
Inro with Takarabune , by Kajikawa Bunryūsai , Edo period , 19th century
Japanese suiseki stone representing Takarabune .