Ho-oh (鳳凰）/Fenghuang

Ho-oh is a fabulous bird introduced from China. It is generally described as jawls of a swallow, beak of a cock, forehead of a fowl, neck of a snake, breast of a goose, back of a turtle, hindquarters of a stag.. It is approximatery 120-150cm (48-60in.) tall, its feathers are brilliant five basic colors and its also has five notes. It eats fruits of bamboo which are beared every 60 to 100 years. It perches only on a paulownia tree. "Ho"(鳳) represents male and "oh" (凰) female. Ho-oh appears before a great sovereign appears in this world. Ho-oh designed on a ¥10,000 bill You can see a Ho-oh on the top of Kinkaku in Kyoto.. >>>>>>>>>..>> Byodoin Amidado (Amitabha Buddha pavilion of Byodoin temple) is designed on a 10 yen coin. Amidado is commonly called Ho-oh-do (Ho-oh pavilion) and designed with the image of Ho-oh stretching its wings widely. Each side of the roof top, there are a pair of Ho-oh. photo courtesy of Gansho-in The picture above was drawn on the ceiling of Gansho-in temple (Obuse-cho, Nagano Pref.) in 1848 by Katsushika Hokusai, when he was 89 years old. This is his largest and latest work..