In popular belief, the magic wooden hammer is a standard item held in the hand of the iconic deity Daikoku-ten,[2] who is often represented as figurines, statues, netsukes, and in architecture.
In Issun-bōshi ("One-Inch Boy"), the hero gains the mallet defeating an ogre (oni) and amass wealth, while in modern embellishments, he even transforms himself into full adult-size.
[citation needed] In folkloristics, the uchide no kozuchi is catalogued in the Stith Thompson motif index scheme under "magic hammer, D 1470.1.46".
According to the Hōbutsushū [ja] (1179), the mallet is a "wonderful treasure", such that when one goes out into a wide open field, it can be used to tap out a mansion, amusing men and women, useful servants, horse and cattle, food, and articles of clothing.
[6][7] However, all the items wished for reputed disappear at the sound of the bell tolling (hence the necessity of using it in a vacant field),[6] and the moral of this Buddhist sermon-type tale (setsuwa) is that this is no treasure after all.
[9] The same anecdote also occurs in the Genpei jōsuiki, which states that the priest was blowing on the embers in an earthenware container to keep it from going out, and when he did the straws on his head would illuminate and appear like silver needles.