When I originally received this charm from a friend’s relative, I had no clue of it’s meaning let alone what it represents. After a quick chat, I found that this tassled charm about the size of a dime was a ‘saru’ or ‘monkey’. ‘Saru’ in Japanese also means ‘go away’. So in the simplest terms this charm makes bad things go away. The only problem is the charm is so small, I’m afraid of it ‘going away’ so I keep it in a safe place.

Saru Monkey charm Saru Monkey charm back

Close up of Saru or monkey charm

… originally posted in bentoOTAKU October 12, 2004