Okimono: Entwined Sambiki Saru (Wise Monkeys)

"A Japanese boxwood okimono of entwined Sambiki Saru (apes) who are the attendants of Saruta Hiko no Mikoto or Koshin, the God of the Roads, they are: Mizaru, with hands over his eyes, who sees no evil; Kinkazaru, covering his ears, who listens to no evil; and Iwazaru, his hand on his mouth, who speaks no evil, 4" high, Meiji period, c. 1880

The name Koshin is applied to the "day of the monkey", the Kano e Saru, recurring every two months at the coincidence of the Ka-no-e term (severth) of the decimal cycle with the ninth term, Saru, of the duodenary cycle, when festivities in honor of Saruta Hiko regularly take place, and offerings are set before the emages of the three monkeys." - Bernie McManus, Appraiser, Woodbury House, Connecticut, 10/23/1999

The Meiji Restoration began in 1868, returning Japan to direct imperial rule under the emperor Meiji after the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate, ending with his death in 1912. - D. Schrishuhn, 9/20/2000