Menuki Identification

Ukigumo

後輩
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I wonder if anyone can make out what these menuki are? Could they be ears of rice/wheat/corn?

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Heads of millet. In Japanese: 粟穂 (awaho, or awabo).

A super fine example
 
Oh fantastic. I'd've never have come to that conclusion! Why? I'll see if I can find out…

'Millet, with its heavy stalks of grain, is associated with wealth and a bountiful harvest.' I thought millet was considered the 'grain of desperation' (great title for a film about suffering samurai farmers), the grain you only eat if you have to. I feed the birds in my garden and they differentially leave the millet behind requiring me to sweep it up.

'The motif [millet] is strongly linked to autumn, a time of harvest and the end of the growing season.' The very best season!
 
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I never came across millet much in Japan, but it's a staple in Indian and Chinese food. My wife makes it for breakfast on a semi-regular basis. They call it 小米 (xiaomi) in Chinese. Literally "little rice".
 
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