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Eggplant, Mt. Fuji, Hawk

The first dream of the year (hatsuyume) has great symbolic meaning in Japan. Tradition holds that the first dream on the second night of the New Year foretells one’s fortune for the year. Mount Fuji, hawks and eggplants were considered particularly auspicious subjects for this dream. There are many explanations about how this grouping came to represent good fortune. One of the simplest is that homophones for these three symbols can mean “obtain high success.” Auspicious clouds have been added to this grouping.