Mallet of Daikoku, One of the Gods of Good Fortune, and a Rat

Mallet of Daikoku and a Rat, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a small but densely auspicious work by Yashima Gakutei. The composition centers on the mallet of Daikoku, one of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune, paired with a rat. In Japanese popular belief, Daikoku is a deity of wealth, agriculture, and the kitchen; his mallet, when shaken, is said to shower out coins, and the rat is his traditional attendant, occupying the hearth and granary as a sign of stored abundance. The print quietly assembles symbols of household prosperity into a single emblematic image, the kind of subject prized by kyoka poetry clubs eager for compact, allusive designs. As a leading designer in the Hokusai school, Yashima Gakutei was trained under Totoya Hokkei and shaped by the example of Katsushika Hokusai. He specialized in [surimono](/glossary/surimono) produced for kyoka circles in Osaka and Edo, and works such as this fall squarely within that practice. The objects are arranged with characteristic compositional restraint, and the small scale invites close inspection of every printed detail, from the texture of the mallet's bindings to the alert posture of the rat. Surimono of this type frequently appeared around the New Year, when households focused on rituals of luck and renewal, and prints featuring Daikoku, his mallet, or his attendants enacted a small visual blessing on the recipient. Premium materials and refined printing techniques such as embossing and metallic pigments could enhance the message, turning a modest sheet into a luxurious talisman. The Metropolitan Museum of Art's record preserves a representative example of Yashima Gakutei's auspicious surimono designs.