Ebisu is the only one of the Seven Lucky Gods with no continental origin: a Japanese god of fishermen and the market, often identified with Hiruko, the leech child born first to Izanagi and Izanami in the Kojiki and set adrift in a reed boat, and with the Izumo deity Kotoshironushi. Both identifications are traditional and neither is certain, and the etymology of his name is disputed. His head shrine is Nishinomiya in Hyogo, and the Ebisu-ko confraternities of the Edo period made him the god of the year's first catch; he is shown laughing, with a sea bream under one arm and a fishing rod in the other.
Modern Practice
He is honoured at the harbour and at the shop counter: sake, rice, sea salt, the first fish of the year, and the first coin taken. The Toka Ebisu festival in January at Nishinomiya and Imamiya is his great public practice, and households keep his image with the treasure boat for the New Year.