Usagi (Rabbit)
2023 is the Year of the Rabbit. The Years of the Rabbit include 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023… the Rabbit is the incarnation of the moon goddess per se and it is always a symbol of pureness and auspiciousness.
Also in Japanese culture is the legend that rabbits pound mochi on the moon, so the moon and rabbits often come along in many motifs. It is also common that in Japan one sees the figure of a rabbit in the moon. Where as in western culture, one sees “the man in the moon”.