Christmas Crib Scene - Japanese Version?!!
Sometimes I fear for the sanity of our offspring.
A couple of days before Christmas, when Sons 2&3 were both here, they indulged in one of their favourite pastimes when they come to visit - they got out their old Lego. As usual at Christmas they made a Lego crib scene. But this is a crib scene with a difference.
They both have an interest in the culture of the Far East. So this year they imagined what a crib scene would have looked like if Christ had been born in 16th Century Japan, in a Shinto shrine rather than a stable!
Mary, Joseph and the baby are fairly easy to identify. The "wise men", seen approaching the doorway, are (from left to right):
- Daimyo: A Japanese clan leader, bearing a suit of armour as a gift for the Baby Jesus
- A Buddhist Warrior Monk, wielding a 2-handed naginata (because he's a Buddhist, and therefore not materialistic, he's not bringing a gift)
- A Portuguese Explorer, bringing as a gift a cache of firearms (the Portuguese were notorious for trading firearms with Japan) - you can see the muskets sticking out of the box
The Ninja on the roof has been sent by Herod to assassinate the baby.
The door is being guarded by Samurai.
The "extra" shows a front view, giving a better view of the Torii (archway) - a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance to, or within, a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the profane to the sacred.
View large for best effect.
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