SakeRiceTeaA meal shared with an elderIncense at the new yearPeaches or a peach bun
Invocation Approach
Tone
Patient cheerful old
Address
JurojinOld Man of the South PoleGod of LongevityShouxing
Relationship
The grandfather who has seen it before and is not impressed
Warning
He grants length and not necessarily health and the two are different requests
Resonance
The old the ill those caring for the aged those who keep a family altar
Symbols
StaffScroll of lifespansCraneTurtleThe white beardThe southern star
Mythology Summary
Jurojin is the old man of the southern pole star, the star of long life — the Chinese Shouxing, the Old Man of the South Pole, identified with Canopus — who carries a staff and a scroll on which the lifespans of people are written, and is accompanied by a crane and a turtle. In Japan he is one of the Seven Lucky Gods, and the tradition often treats him and Fukurokuju as one old man or as two aspects of one, without settling the question. He is fond of sake, and his public practice is the New Year visit to the shrines of the seven.
Modern Practice
He is asked for length of years, and the honest practice attached to it is the meal shared with an elder rather than the request alone: sake, rice and tea at the family altar, incense at the New Year, and the visit to the shrine of the seven in the first month.