Every year, on the second day of the annual New Year observances, fishermen around Japan conduct rituals to pray for their safety and, above all, abundant catches.
These include the pouring and imbibing of sake; dispensing largesse — including candies, money and mikan oranges — from their decks to people gathered onshore; and dressing up their boats with celebratoray banners.
The motifs and symbols are all auspicious, including treasure boats, phoenixes, dragons, cranes, Mt. Fuji, and (of course) lots of fish and other seafood.
The kanji characters all include the name of the boat — which will be suffixed with the character 丸 (maru) — and also the characters 大漁, meaning "large catches".
Here are a selection from this year...
