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Taeko Matoba - White Rabbit of Inaba
Category: Sculpture.
The four panels are woven.
This story is well known in Japan from old days.
A rabbit living in the small island wanted to go to the big island, Inaba-no-kuni (present Tottori prefecture). Then he planned to cheat sharks to cross the sea between the small island and the big island. He offered the sharks to count the number of them if they formed into a line between two islands. The rabbit began to hop on the sharks one after another to get to Inaba-nokuni. He was too happy to keep his true purpose a secret. He let out this secret to the sharks just before reaching the island. Hearing this, they got angry and plucked the rabbit. He became stark naked.
One day, Ohkuninushi-no-mikoto (one of the gods of the ancient Japanese myths) met the crying rabbit and felt pity for him. This god advised him to wash his body with clear water and wrap himself in the ears of the flowers of cattails. At last he was cured and became a white rabbit again.
It's good to be ambitious, but those who elbow their way past older people on the ladder to success soon discover that they need the help of others to succeed in life.