Niwatori Boko (鶏鉾)

Posted by MShades (Kyoto, Japan) on 31 August 2008 in People & Portrait.

I always like to get pictures of people doing the real work.

Niwatori Boko, dedicated to yet another Chinese legend of the Emperor Yao, who encouraged citizens to participate in governance by offering them a drum to beat whenever they had a complaint, and told them to write down their ideas on a wooden post. His rule was so peaceful that roosters (niwatori) ended up living in the drum.

Or it could be from a Japanese story of Amaterasu and singing birds that would never die. Take your pick.