Japanese Woodblock Print, c.1930s, published by Nishinomiya, Nishinomiya catalog number 676

SIZE IN INCHES: inches

COMMENTS:Japanese Cranes are monogamous and are devoted mates. In times when cranes were common, it was sometimes observed that a crane was sick or injured and unable to fly with the flock to new feeding grounds. On such occasions the afflicted bird's mate refused to leave it even though its own life was threatened by staying.

Beautiful as the Crane is in its appearance and graceful as it is In its movements, its voice is strident and can be heard above any kind of noise or hubbub. Its voice has come to symbolize authority so that the Japanese have an expression: "tsuru no hitokoe", which means: "the single cry of the crane" - the voice of authority that silences all dispute.

It is, however, as a symbol of long life that the crane is best known in folklore. Even in nature, the crane is a long-lived bird and there have been records of cranes living for eighty years or more in zoos. In popular imagination this became extended and cranes were reputed to live for a thousand years, in other words for ever. Together with the tortoise, (which was believed to live for ten thousand years) the crane became a symbol of longevity. The crane and the tortoise are sometimes represented together against the background of a Horaizan, a mountain representing a utopian land of perennial youth and immortality. Representations of them are sent at times of celebration and especially to wedding couples as a wish for long life and happiness.

VG, no flaws of note