chigiri-e

Saw this on a walk recently.

A local pre-school had made this chigiri-e (picture made by tearing colored paper) mural, which had the story of how the 12 Chinese zodiac signs came to be.

"Long ago, God gathered all the animals and said, "On the first morning of the New Year, I will give a greeting so please come to my house."

"The first twelve animals to pass through the gate to his house, will be given a year equal to the position they finished the race in."

"The cat forgot what day they were supposed to meet so he went to ask the rat."

"The rat told the cat to go on January 2nd."

"The ox who knew he walked slowly, left his house before dawn."

"The rat spotted the ox and quickly ran after him and jumping on the ox's back to catch a ride. The ox didn't even notice."

"In the morning, the gate opened."

"The ox was first in line and just as he was about to enter the gate, the rat jumped off the ox's back and ran to God's house."

"The other animals behind the ox, quickly ran, stumbling along the way."

"So this was the order of the finishers..."

"Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Boar"

"On January 2nd, the cat turned up at God's house. The gate was closed and the cat realized that he had been tricked by the rat."

Not only was the story cute, but the murals too.