Near as I can tell, Tsuki is the Shinto Moon God – brother of the Sun Goddess. They don’t talk to each other – hence Day and Night. The Rabbit is the servant of the Moon God.
I took this pic and photoshopped it to death…
ByrdIn Chinese and japanese folk tales, the markings on the moon are not a face but a rabbit. One version thatI have read (Chinese) is that he has a mortar and pestle and is pounding the “pill of immortality”. Another is that the rabbit has a bowl to pound rice into mochi. I haven’t come across anything that I recall about the rabbit being Tsukiyomi no Mikoto’s servant, but it could be.
As an interesting contrast, the Kami of Rice/Food, Inari, is associated with foxes and there will be statues of “kitsune” at the Inari shrines. “Inari Sushi” is rice in a fried tofu bag and is said to be a favourite of foxes. 8-)
Peter GardnerIt’s much easier to see the Rabbit In The Moon than the Man in the moon, I must say.
How can they not be speaking? I see the moon in daytime all the time!
HuwByrd – I’ll take your word for it. Other than the picture above, of the Rabbit at the Tsuki shrine, I’ve been having a hard time finding info. There’s another pic – rabbit as the guardian of the shrine… and one where the rabbit is the water fountain for cleansing. Both very cool…
But searching for Rabbit in Shinto has been a very hard search! I did find the Mochi story. I welcome any decent and readably book suggestions on Shinto mythology.
HuwPeter – I’m with you. I have not been able to “make” myself see the man in the moon since I was a little child. But the rabbit is “right there”.