The Rainman, the Frog, and the ... Willow! 🐸

Earlier this week I blogged about receiving a souvenir "frog-bun" ("kaeru manju") from a student who had just come back from a trip to Nagoya.

In the blog post, which you can read here,

https://hive.blog/hive-147010/@hirohurl/sensei-heres-a-nagoya-frog-bun-for-you

I wrote,

Kaeru Manju are made by a Nagoya-based confectionary company called "Aoyagi Sohonke." I wondered if there would be a connection between the company name and frogs, but "Ao yagi" sounds like "blue goat" but the kanji - 青柳 - actually mean "blue willow."

At the time I was a bit disappointed that there was no apparent connection between the company and their trademark sweetmeat, the "kaeru manju." Instead, I made do with general remarks about frogs being considered "cute" in Japan, and the word play involved in "returning" ("kaeru") from Nagoya with a bun in the shape of a frog (kaeru).

I Found The Connection Between The Cake Company And The Frog!

I went out for an "okonomiyake" dinner with the Mrs this evening, and happened to show her the photo I took of the kaeru-manju and mentioned the name of the confectionary company, and how I had thought it meant "Blue Goat" whereas, as she already knew, it actually means "Blue Willow".

Then she told me that there is a card in the traditional Japanese "Hanafuda" playing card deck that depicts a frog and a blue willow tree...

Aha!

She said something about the frog jumping up to try and get on the overhanging branch of the willow, so as soon as I got home I dug out my Hanafuda deck and looked for the card.

The Rainman of the Hanafuda

A Hanafuda deck consists of 48 cards arranged into twelve suits of four cards each. Each suit is assigned a flower or tree and a month of the year. The willow suit is assigned to November, which I thought was a nice coincidence since my student bought the frog buns in Nagoya in November.

From left to right in the photo, above, the willow cards are "swallow," "lightning," "rainman," and "ribbon." Let's have a closer look at the rainman card:

A man with a silly hat and flimsy parasol was gingerly walking along a meandering stream in a pair of high wooden "geta" when he noticed an orange frog attempting again and again to jump onto an overhanging willow branch.

"How foolish of that frog to attempt the impossible," mused our hero when a gust of wind blew the willow branch low enough for the frog to hop on board.

"Well, there you go," thought our man, "it must be me who is the fool. Here I am taking a break from my calligraphy because it seems impossible to make any progress with it, and now that frog has taught me a lesson."

With that, he turned around and, forgetting the sheer agony of walking in geta, he hightailed it back to his calligraphy brushes and pretty soon became famous as the founder of the flowing style of Japanese calligraphy, as did the story of how a frog jumping onto a willow branch had been the source of his inspiration - to the extent that that notable episode ended up being celebrated in the willow suit of the Hanafuda deck.

The name of our hero? Ono no Michikaze.

The Frog Bun and the Blue Willow

So now we know the story of Ono no Michikaze - the "Rainman" of the Hanafuda deck - and the frog ("kaeru") and the blue willow "ao yanagi, the connection between frog-shaped buns and a confectionary company that goes by the name of "Blue Willow" ("Ao Yagi" = an abbreviated version of "Ao Yanagi") is obvious - and much more satisfying as an explanation than the pleasant generalities about cute frogs and wordplay around "frogs" and "return trips."

Cheers! 🐸

David Hurley
#InspiredFocus