Jurojin

God of long life among Japan’s Seven Gods of Fortune, Jurōjin (寿老人) is a beloved figure of Shinto–Buddhist folk belief. He embodies healthy longevity and good cheer, often invoked at New Year and on Shichifukujin pilgrimages.

Linked to China’s Northern Song era (960–1127), the figure entered Japan through Taoist lore as the “Old Man of the South Pole” and merged into local religion. Sometimes treated as a historical immortal, he is also often conflated with Fukurokuju. Iconography shows a small elder under three shaku (about 90 cm) with a tall bald crown, staff and fan, and a scroll said to record human lifespans. Deer, cranes, or tortoises attend him as emblems of endurance. His image appears in temples, shrines, and museums, and he was a favorite of ink‑wash painters from Muromachi to Edo—Sesshū, Sesson Shukei, Kanō Tan’yū, and Maruyama Ōkyo.

Today he anchors Seven Lucky Gods tours and New Year stamp circuits in cities like Tokyo and Kamakura, where people seek blessings for health and long life. Cross‑cultural in origin yet warmly local, Jurōjin endures as Japan’s smiling promise of longevity.