Cross-Cultural Communication: Akabeko ～ The Red Cow Toy ～

cow red cow beads phone akabeko Japan beading beads mania strap

Have you ever heard of "Akabeko"? Akabeko stands for "Red Cow." "Aka" means red in Japanese, and "beko" means a cow in a dialect of Fukushima prefecture of Japan. Akabeko is a local toy of Fukushima, and it is red, cow shaped, and made by mashed paper. The reason why Akabeko is red, is coming from a legend of the local. To explain simple, the story is like this.

"A long time ago, people tried to build a temple, but the huge logs were quite heavy, so people were struggling how they carry them. At the time, a herd of cows appeared, and helped people to carry the logs. As time goes by, many of cows ran out of a steam, but the last cow standing was a red cow. After that, people became to praise the red cow as a symbol of kindness and vitality."

This legend carried the birth of Akabeko. The picture shown is the actual Akabeko toy. Isn't it lovely? It's neck moves like nodding. Molded patterns is drew on its body. Because it looks cute, Akabeko is becoming a different type of product.

Beads Mania is one of those shops sells Akabeko in different style. Beads Mania propose an Akabeko as a beading kit. The very top picture is the one. It's a Akabeko motif that can plugged in to the earphone jack. It can also becomes a mobile phone straps by changing the attachment parts.

"Akabeko"