High Hopes Boys washing money with spring at Zeniarai Benten Ugafuku Shrine in Kamakura, Japan in hopes of increased new-year prosperity. Wall Street Journal, Jan 4, 2013, at page B2 (a photo in the column Fiscal Brief Bank: Jan 4, 2013)
, which is photo No 14 in
Photos: Japan Celebrates the New Year. Japan Real Time, Jan 4, 2013.
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealti ... slideshow/#slide/14
Note:
(a) Zeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Shrine 銭洗弁財天宇賀福神社
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeniarai_Benzaiten_Ugafuku_Shrine
(popularly known simply as Zeniarai Benten; the waters of a spring in its cave are said to be able to multiply the money washed in it; The object of worship is a syncretic kami which fuses a traditional spirit called Ugafukujin 宇賀福神 with the Buddhist goddess of Indian origin Sarasvati, known in Japanese as Benzaiten 弁財天)
(b) The "zeni" and "arai" are Japanese pronunciation.
(i) zeni 銭 【ぜに】 (n): "(1) round coin with a (square) hole in the center; (2) coin made of non-precious materials; (3) money"
(ii) arai (n)
arau 洗う 【あらう】 (v): "to wash"
(c) Each of the six syllables in ben-zai-ten (pronunciation for 弁財天) and u-ga-fuku (pronunciation for 宇賀福) are Chinese pronunciation for the corresponding kanji.
(d) Saraswati
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saraswati
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