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Says JAANUS: 福禄寿 Japanese = Fukurokuju; Chinese = Fulushou. A popular deity of wealth (fuku 福), happiness (roku 禄), and longevity (ju 寿), and also associated with the Southern Pole Star (Nankyokusei 南極星). The origin of the god may lie in the story by Yangzheng 陽城 (Jp. = Yousei), advisor to Emperor Wu (Jp. = Butei 武帝, 464-549) of the Liang 梁 dynasty, which holds that Fukurokuju counselled the emperor to end conscription of slaves from a certain province and thus earned the reputation as a god of happiness in the region. An auspicious subject in Chinese and Japanese painting, he is usually accompanied by a bat and tortoise, and occasionally a stag with a small body and elongated bald head, Fukurokuju is often confused with Juroujin 寿老人, but can be differentiated by the animals shown with him. <end JAANUS quote>
Says the Flammarion Iconographic Guide: This semi-deity of Chinese origin is perhaps the divine representation of a Taoist hermit sage of the Song period. He is also said to be the god of the Southern Cross, or wisdom, virility, fertility, and longevity.He was sometimes, but seldom, replaced in the assembly of the Seven Lucky Gods by Kichijouten. Fukurokuji is usually represented in the form of a little old man, with beard and moustache, with a bald head three times the height of his body. This disproportionate head sometimes assumes phallic forms and is then covered with a cloth cap. He holds a long knobbly staff to which a book is attached. In paintings he is often shown in the company of a crane, the Taoist symbol of longevity. In sculpture, his hands are usually hidden in wide sleeves. Sometimes confused with Juroujin, he is almost never invoked as a separate deity. <end Flammarion quote>
Daikoku Shaving Fukurokuju, 18th Century
OTSU-E PAINTING, COURTESY THE MINGEIKAN
THE JAPAN FOLK CRAFTS MUSEUM
Otsu-e (Also spelled Otsue), Edo Period
Popular Paintings of Goblins & Deities in Japanese Folk Art
Says the Japan Folk Craft Museum in Tokyo: This painting demonstrates the happy and humorous natures of these two members of the group of Seven Deities. Daikoku is the deity of prosperity, while Fukurokuju is the deity of longevity. Daikoku is almost naked, clothed only in a loincloth and wearing a red hood. Holding a razor in his right hand, he must climb a ladder in order to shave Fukurokuju's head, since it is so elongated. The painting illustrates the human qualities of deities, who seem less than godlike in such poses, showing that the immortals have as many foibles as us ordinary folk. <end Mingeikan quote>
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