<![CDATA[🌕BATS FOR BATS🦇]]>🌕BATS FOR BATS🦇

Unlike many countries, in Japan bats have long been considered auspicious symbols...their images used on everything from sword sheaths to kimono.

In China the word for bat (fù 蝠) was a homonym for 'wealth' or 'fortune' (fù 富), and over time the bat became connected to good luck.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/26729aeb-a7c5-4791-b11a-8076fa4664bb/bats-for-batsRSS for NodeFri, 23 Oct 2026 12:55:48 GMTThu, 22 Oct 2026 04:37:38 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to 🌕BATS FOR BATS🦇 on Thu, 22 Oct 2026 07:05:39 GMT]]>A character by the name of 'Kōmoriyasu' (蝙蝠安), named after the bat tattoo on his cheek, appears in the famous Kabuki play 'The Affair of Yosaburō & Otomi' (与話情浮名横櫛).
Yosaburō joins with him after being left scarred by the gangster Genzaemon (for his affair with Otomi).

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/camelliakyoto/statuses/117483289933554395https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/camelliakyoto/statuses/117483289933554395Thu, 22 Oct 2026 07:05:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🌕BATS FOR BATS🦇 on Thu, 22 Oct 2026 07:01:06 GMT]]>The transformation of aging bats does not end with them becoming nobusuma (野衾).
Nobusuma, when old, become 'yamachichi' (山地乳) or 'momonjii' (百々爺 - a violent old man that assaults passersby).
Yamachichi subsist on the breath of sleeping humans (who will die the next day!)😱

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/camelliakyoto/statuses/117483272066574482https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/camelliakyoto/statuses/117483272066574482Thu, 22 Oct 2026 07:01:06 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🌕BATS FOR BATS🦇 on Thu, 22 Oct 2026 06:52:49 GMT]]>@camelliakyoto @mycrowgirl

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://lsbt.me/users/Em/statuses/117483239498596422https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://lsbt.me/users/Em/statuses/117483239498596422Thu, 22 Oct 2026 06:52:49 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🌕BATS FOR BATS🦇 on Thu, 22 Oct 2026 06:23:34 GMT]]>One of my favourite ukiyoe subjects is the famed swordsman Miyamoto Musashi (宮本武藏 1584-1645) fighting a nobusuma in the mountains of Tanba (丹波国).
A 'nobusuma' (野衾) or 'tobikura' (飛倉) is a bat that transforms into a yōkai with old age.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/camelliakyoto/statuses/117483124431541512https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/camelliakyoto/statuses/117483124431541512Thu, 22 Oct 2026 06:23:34 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🌕BATS FOR BATS🦇 on Thu, 22 Oct 2026 06:15:43 GMT]]>@camelliakyoto "In China the god of happiness, 'Fuxing' (福星), was often depicted as a bat..." Nice! I love that a culture depicts bats in such a positive way! 🦇😍

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastoart.social/users/elaterite/statuses/117483093614455227https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastoart.social/users/elaterite/statuses/117483093614455227Thu, 22 Oct 2026 06:15:43 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🌕BATS FOR BATS🦇 on Thu, 22 Oct 2026 06:10:16 GMT]]>In China the god of happiness, 'Fuxing' (福星), was often depicted as a bat, or garbed in robes embroidered with bats.

Two bats came to symbolize true happiness, and five bats the 'five blessings' of longevity, wealth, virtuousness, tranquility and an honored (natural) death.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/camelliakyoto/statuses/117483072140174664https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/camelliakyoto/statuses/117483072140174664Thu, 22 Oct 2026 06:10:16 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🌕BATS FOR BATS🦇 on Thu, 22 Oct 2026 05:37:38 GMT]]>The most common type of higashi use wooden molds called 'kigata' (木型) to create intricate designs in sugar.

Some of the most remarkable kigata use bats as inspiration...one artist even borrowing the face of a cat to create a strange hybrid.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/camelliakyoto/statuses/117482943857591351https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/camelliakyoto/statuses/117482943857591351Thu, 22 Oct 2026 05:37:38 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🌕BATS FOR BATS🦇 on Thu, 22 Oct 2026 05:19:39 GMT]]>@camelliakyoto That's interesting.🦇

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/117482362850558906/statuses/117482873150302078https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/117482362850558906/statuses/117482873150302078Thu, 22 Oct 2026 05:19:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🌕BATS FOR BATS🦇 on Thu, 22 Oct 2026 05:17:51 GMT]]>The name for bat in Japan is 'kōmori' (蝙蝠)...possibly this derived from 'kawamori' (川守 'protecting rivers'), 'kawahari' (皮貼り 'skin stretched [between bones]'), 'kahofuri' (蚊屠り 'mosquito vanquisher') or 'ka-o-hori' (蚊を欲り 'craving mosquitoes')🦇🦇

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/camelliakyoto/statuses/117482866069693247https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/camelliakyoto/statuses/117482866069693247Thu, 22 Oct 2026 05:17:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🌕BATS FOR BATS🦇 on Thu, 22 Oct 2026 05:09:43 GMT]]>@camelliakyoto I love bats and appreciate that unlike in so much of the West, Japan is among the places and cultures that have sufficiently positive regard for bats to feature them on decorative arts regularly

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mas.to/users/TheDonsieLass/statuses/117482834044396798https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mas.to/users/TheDonsieLass/statuses/117482834044396798Thu, 22 Oct 2026 05:09:43 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to 🌕BATS FOR BATS🦇 on Thu, 22 Oct 2026 04:54:01 GMT]]>Kameya Yoshinaga's (亀屋良長) 'MOON' depicts, unsurprisingly, a bat skimming across a full moon🦇

The inside bean paste was wonderfully flavored with caramelized nuts.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/camelliakyoto/statuses/117482772343461728https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/camelliakyoto/statuses/117482772343461728Thu, 22 Oct 2026 04:54:01 GMT