Fuku Riu Dragon

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This year, I've gotten a few mails from visitors interested in getting a "Japanese Good Luck Dragon Tattoo" - aka Fuku Riu/Fuku Ryu (Ryu being the Japanese spelling). Here's one page solely dedicated to it.

NOTE: Please read up as much as you can, from a variety of sources, when deciding on the best tattoo for yourself.

Fuku Riu: General Aspects to Look Out For

The more cheerful dragons in eastern mythology tend to be either looking upwards or "ascending" (towards the sky, the heavens, success, etc).

Fuku Riu is likely to have:

· a certain "liveliness" as opposed to "fierceness".

· a healthy-looking body, and strengthful gesture

This makes its presence auspicious for activating good luck, good fortune, prosperity and abundance.

For more information, you can read my note on Identifying Japanese Dragons.

Fuku Riu Pictures

So far these are the images I've seen which could be Fuku Riu.

Possible Fuku Riu, #1 Picture from: Tattoo Gallery Designs

Possible Fuku Riu, #2 [full size] Picture from: TattooChurch.com

Celestial Green Dragon Picture from: Feng Shui BestBuy (this is a Korean dragon, due to four toes - Japanese dragons will have 3; I'm using it here to show the similarities)

Not Fuku Riu

I've come across a painting titled "Fuku Riu", but was kindly told by a visitor why that dragon is not Fuku Ryu.

Eastern Dragon Colors and Meaning

Dragons and the accompanying colours have different meanings in Eastern mythology. These are the common colors:

· Yellow is superior, imperial, a symbol of the centre of the Earth.

· Gold colored dragons have many special attributes such as wealth, wisdom, kindness, and the ability to face challenges head on.

· Blue and Green are symbols of the East, the chief spirits of the Spring. Green represents good fortune, good health, or luck.

· Red is associated with storms, the South, Summer, the heart and large intestine, fire, activity, and good fortune.

· Black is associated with storms, the North, winter, vengeance, and worry.

· White represents Autumn, mourning, and death. In Eastern culture, it's different from the association of the color white with purity.

More information on History of Chinese Dragons.

Etc, etc.

Dragons in the East are revered. The Dragon is looked upon as the ultimate symbol of extremely good fortune. Feng Shui masters today still treat dragons with great respect and have symbols of the dragon as their ultimate possession.

So if you have a Japanese/Eastern dragon tattoo - respect it and take extra good care of it ;)

~

References:

1) History of Chinese Dragons
2) Famous Japanese Dragons
3) Feng Shui BestBuy

Footnote (18 Dec 07): I'd say that thus far, this has been the trickiest page to come up with for this website. Oh, and if I find a tribal version of Fuku Riu (or if you have one), I'll place it here.

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