The Seven Lucky Gods, Shichifukujin in Japanese, are an assembly of seven deities of good fortune drawn together from several different traditions rather than native to any single one. Ebisu, the god of fishermen and merchants, is the only member of purely Japanese Shinto origin. The rest arrived from abroad and were absorbed into Japanese religious life: Daikokuten and Bishamonten both descend from Indian deities carried into Japan through Buddhism, Bishamonten from the guardian king Vaishravana and, through him, from the Hindu wealth god Kubera; Benzaiten descends from the Hindu river goddess Saraswati; and Fukurokuju, Jurojin and Hotei all derive from Chinese Taoist and folk figures associated with longevity and contentment. The group was assembled by around the fifteenth century and became especially popular during the Edo period, when the custom of visiting seven shrines or temples in a single circuit to receive each god's blessing, the shichifukujin meguri, spread widely and continues in cities across Japan today, above all around the New Year.
Facts
Structure
Structure of the PantheonA council of gods that meets, deliberates and decides 1 Creation AccountAssembled from separate traditions rather than born of a single myth: one native Shinto figure, Ebisu, joined by imported Buddhist, Hindu-derived and Taoist figures of fortune into a single group of seven by around the fifteenth century. 1 Attestation
Era of AttestationAttested from the assembly of seven originally separate deities into one grouping in Japan during the Muromachi period, the fifteenth century CE, drawing on older Buddhist, Shinto, Taoist and Hindu figures. A living tradition practiced today. 1 Veneration TodayActively venerated in a living tradition 1 Cult
Principal Cult CentreNo single site; venerated through shichifukujin meguri circuits linking seven shrines or temples in a city, walked especially around the New Year in Tokyo, Kamakura and elsewhere across Japan. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Benzaiten, adapted into Japan from the Hindu river goddess Saraswati, is counted among the Seven Lucky Gods.
Kubera, worshipped in Japan as Bishamonten, is counted among the Seven Lucky Gods as the wealth god turned god of war.
Saraswati, absorbed into Japanese religion as Benzaiten, stands behind one member of the Seven Lucky Gods.
Vaishravana, known in Japan as Bishamonten, is counted among the Seven Lucky Gods and is Kubera under another name.
Belongs to Tradition
The Seven Lucky Gods are venerated within Japanese religious life alongside Shinto practice, though most of the seven were absorbed from Buddhist, Hindu and Taoist sources.
Sources
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