Set of 2 Vintage Japanese Takasago Couple / Happy Couple Jotomba Old Legend Metal Figurines

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Set of 2 Japanese Takasago Couple / Happy Couple Jotomba Old Legend Metal Figurines
Aprox. dimensions:
Joo (尉): 7"H x … Read more Set of 2 Japanese Takasago Couple / Happy Couple Jotomba Old Legend Metal Figurines
Aprox. dimensions:
Joo (尉): 7"H x 3.5"W
Uba (媼): 4.5"H x 3"W
Combined weight of both figurines: 3.72lbs / 1.6kg
Very good original condition!

The Legend:

“This legend is one of the oldest in Japanese mythology. An old couple – his name is Joo (尉) and hers is Uba (媼) known together as Jotomba – are said to appear from the mist at Lake Takasago. The old man and his wife are usually portrayed talking happily together with a pine tree in the background. Signifying, as they do, a couple living in perfect harmony until they grow old together, they have long been a symbol of the happiness of family life. The story is portrayed in a famous Noo play “Takasago no Uta”

At Takasago Shrine there is a very old pine tree, the trunk of which is bifurcated (相生の松); in it dwells the spirit of the Maiden of Takasago who was seen once by the son of Izanagi who fell in love and wedded her. Both lived to a very great age, dying at the same hour on the same day, and since then their spirits abide in the tree, but on moonlight nights they return to human shape to revisit the scene of their earthly felicity and pursue their work of gathering pine needles. See less