The fifth year in the Japanese zodiac cycle is the Year of the Dragon (Tatsudoshi, 辰). This is a very positive year, in a sign of good fortune.
The Japanese dragon (tatsu, ryu) is an imaginary animal: its body resembles a large snake, with 81 scales on its back, claws with 3, 4, or 5 fingers on each of its four legs, two horns on its head, long ears, and long beards around its mouth. It is said to live under water or underground. It can fly through the air and then create clouds and rain accompanied by lightning (note that although Japanese dragons can fly, they don't have wings like the Western dragon - the Japanese dragon also doesn't breathe fire). In China, since ancient times, it has been considered the chief of the scaled animals and one of the four auspicious creatures, along with the qilin, the phoenix, and the turtle. In Buddhism, there are eight great dragon kings. The dragon is considered the guardian deity of navigation, and prayers for rain are made to the dragon.
[Dragon painting by Hokusai]
Okakura Tenshin has expressed the above most beautifully in The Awakening of Japan: "In Japan and China, the dragon is not the gruesome monster of the
Western, medieval imagination, but a genius of strength and goodness. He
is the spirit of change. Hidden in the caverns of inaccessible
mountains, or coiled in the unfathomable depth of the sea, he awaits the
time when he slowly rouses himself into activity. He unfolds himself in
the storm clouds; he washes his mane in the blackness of the
seething whirlpools, his claws are in the fork of the lightning, his
scales begin to glisten in the bark of rain-swept pine trees. His voice
is heard in the hurricane, which scattering the withered leaves of the
forest, quickens a new spring. The dragon reveals himself only to vanish."
There is no exact theory regarding the origin of dragons, but when
Buddhist scriptures were introduced to China, the Nagas, the Indian
snake gods and water gods, were translated as "dragons" and "dragon
kings," and were incorporated into the Hachibushu of protectors of the
historical Buddha Shaka Nyorai. Given this relationship, it is not
difficult to imagine that the dragons that came to China after the
introduction of Buddhism were also influenced by the image of the snake
god Naga. For example, the dragon king in Daoism has almost the same
characteristics as Nagaraja in India. However, before Buddhism was
introduced to China, Chinese dragons were already believed to be
responsible for rain.
In Buddhism, two dragons sprinkled clean
water on Buddha at his birth, and when he attained enlightenment, they
protected him from seven days of rain. In addition, the Lotus Sutra
preaches the attainment of Buddhahood by an eight-year-old dragon girl
(According to the Devadatta chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the daughter of
Sagara, one of the eight great dragon kings who lived in a palace at the
bottom of the sea, attained enlightenment when she heard Bodhisattva
Manjushri preach the Lotus Sutra in the dragon king's palace, showing
that the power of the Lotus Sutra enables all people in their present
forms to attain Buddhahood equally.)
[Susanoo slaying the Yamata no Orochi, woodblock print by Toyohara Chikanobu]
In Japanese myth, the deity Susanoo fights Yamato no Orochi, an eight-headed dragon. He first makes the beast drunk by serving it eight barrels of strong sake. After killing it, he finds the sword Kusunagi in the beast's tail. This is now one of the imperial insignia.
The Sea God is also called the Dragon God and lives in a Dragon Palace beneath the waves. This is visited by Hikohohodemi, who marries Toyotamahime, the Dragon King's daughter - and after she joins her husband on land, she becomes the ancestor of Ninigi-no-mikoto, the mythical progenitor of the Imperial House. Utsukushima Shrine on Miyajima was also believed to be the residence of the Dragon King's daughter. On a different note, in a folk tale, Urashima visits the Dragon Palace on the back of a turtle and also marries the Dragon King's daughter, but when he leaves the underwater world, he has to return alone.
In Japanese folklore, dragons are often associated with water and are believed to control rainfall, typhoons, and floods. Prayers for rain have also been directed to dragons: a famous example is the successful prayer of Kukai (Kobo Daishi) in Kyoto's Shinsenen Garden during a drought in 824. The dragon here is still honored today in the small temple on the island in the center of the pond as Zennyo ryo-o or "Pious Woman Dragon Queen" (See "Cherry Blossoms in Shinsenen").
[Kannon Riding a Dragon by Harada Naojiro]
There are many famous dragon paintings, often on large canvases. An interesting example is the late 19th century painting by Harada Naojiro showing the Bodhisattva Kannon in a white robe riding a dragon (in the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo). Kannon is associated with compassion and is one of the most popular Buddhist deities. The dragon here is a symbol of goodness subject to Buddhist law.
[Ablution basin at Kuramadera, Kyoto]
Dragons are a ubiquitous design element in Japan: we often find dragons on sword guards (tsuba), incense burners, inro decorative containers, and not to forget the water spouts of water purification pavilions (temizuya / chozuya) in temples and shrines.
[Painting of Twin Dragon on the ceiling of the Hodo Hall
in Kenninji, Kyoto, by Koizumi Junsaku]
Dragons appear in the names of Zen temples, such as Ryoanji ("Dragon Peace Temple") and Tenryuji ("Heavenly Dragon Temple") in Kyoto. Many Zen temples have a dragon painted on the ceiling of their assembly halls - since the dragon rules water, this is a talisman against fires.
[Dance of the Golden Dragon in Sensoji, Tokyo]
And in popular culture, dragons can be found in everything from Dragon Ball and Dragon Quest to the Chunichi Dragons, not to mention King Ghidorah, the three-headed golden dragon who appears in several Godzilla movies.
Have a great dragon year!