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Updated: May 7, 2025

This face of a smiling chubby girl, with two spots upon her forehead-a mask of baked clay is the traditional image of Ame-no-uzume-no-mikoto, commonly called Otafuku, whose merry laughter lured the Goddess of the Sun out of the cavern of darkness. And here is a little Shinto priest in full hieratic garb: when this little string between his feet is pulled, he claps his hands as if in prayer.

Lafcadio Hearn - Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan : First Series