I gave up on the Toka Ebisu festival this year...
The holiday business has ended.
After I finished cleaning up, I had planned to go to the Toka Ebisu festival at Imamiya Ebisu Shrine, but I had been suffering from severe muscle pain since the morning and I didn't think I would be able to endure the long queue, so I gave up.
Last year, I gave up at the approach lined with outdoor stalls, and I haven't been to the shrine for about two years.
The road to business success is a tough one...
Many people have posted pictures of their visits to the shrine on Facebook, so this year I would like to pray while looking at those pictures.
Now then…
Some of you may already know this, but this starts with a story about trivia about Ebisu-san that I wrote when I was using Ameba Blog.
The first child born in Japan was disabled.
This Ebisu statue is actually Japan's first disabled person.
The origin of the god is that Izanagi and Izanami's child, Hiruko, was born prematurely and completely paralyzed, but was washed out to sea and picked up by a fisherman, who resurrected him as a god named Ebisu. He became the god of fishing and business prosperity.
Since he has a bad leg, there is a saying that "his legs won't move" = "prosperity in business."
By the way, he is also hard of hearing, so it seems like the drums are played from behind.
It's quite an interesting story...
Ebisu is the only one of the Seven Lucky Gods that originated in Japan.
I think that Japan is a country that values people with disabilities.
Other lucky charms associated with Ebisu include people with disabilities...
Fukusuke and Sendai Shiro
To give a famous example, it is said that there is a real person whoFukusuke ,The Great Lakes .
This lucky charm for prosperous business was originally a disabled person.
Below are some excerpts from Wikipedia.
Fukusuke doll (from Wikipedia)
Originally, he was a physically handicapped man, less than two feet tall, with a big head, but worried about being laughed at by his neighbors, he decided to become a samurai. On his way down the Tokaido road, he was invited by a kagushi in Odawara, where he found a way to make a living. He put on a show under the snow in Kamakura, where he was well received, and was put on a show in Ryogoku, Edo. He was also very popular in Edo, and Satoro was ordered to give him the name Fukusuke, a play on the name Fugusuke, which brought good fortune and drew a large audience. Among the spectators was the son of a certain Hatamoto samurai, who begged his parents to give him Fukusuke as a playmate, and the certain Hatamoto samurai bought him from the kagushi for 2 ryo and employed him. Since then, the Hatamoto's family has been blessed with good fortune, and he has been greatly favored, and with the help of the Hatamoto, he married a maid named "Risa", started making Fukakusa ware in Nagai-cho, and made statues in his own appearance that he sold. It is said that these dolls became popular after Fukusuke's death.
Sendai Shiro (from Wikipedia)
Although he was mentally disabled and could barely speak, he was welcomed in many places while he was alive, as the stores he visited were said to thrive. After his death, his photograph came to be displayed as a god of fortune who brings good luck in business.
The high rate of people with disabilities among the Gods of Fortune.
When you look at it this way, it does seem like there are some proverbial similarities...
I wonder if the TV drama "The Naked General" has a similar lesson.
The most important thing for business success is to be kind to people
Is the ``god of fortune for prosperous business'' the ``disabled person''?
Personally, I don't think they are "gods of fortune who bring prosperity to business," but rather that this was something that was bound to happen for the store.
For example, Sendai Shiro. The stores Shiro visits thrive, while stores that customers are reluctant to enter go out of business or decline. I think he was able to sense the personalities of the store owners intuitively.
A store that is friendly to people with disabilities is a store that is friendly to everyone.
He has a big heart and is always thinking about what can be done to help others.
This is why the store is thriving and Shiro feels at ease coming to it.
As a result, the stores he visits with confidence seem to be thriving.
Such thing.
Doing something for people. I think this is the most important thing for a thriving business. I was thinking about this while I was working.
I hope we can do our best with the same spirit.
Be kind to people.
