A coloring page of ichi-fuji, ni-taka, san-nasubi: Mount Fuji, a hawk and a pair of eggplants, the three things Japan counts as the luckiest to see in the first dream of the New Year. The shapes are large and the outlines clear, which suits adults and seniors, at home or in a care-home activity. Free to download and print as a PDF, no registration needed.
🗣 Conversation Starters — for care activities and family time
Have you ever seen a hawk or another bird of prey up close?
Does the hawk bring back a particular memory for you?
Do you like animals? Which creatures were you around as a child?
What went through your mind when you first looked at this picture?
What does ‘ichi-fuji, ni-taka, san-nasubi’ mean?
It is an old ranking of the luckiest things to see in your hatsuyume, the first dream of the New Year, usually the night of 1 to 2 January: first Mount Fuji, second a hawk, third an eggplant. Where the phrase came from is not settled. One popular explanation ties all three to Suruga, the province where Tokugawa Ieyasu spent his later years, but the saying is still widely known in Japan today.
Any tips for a neat, polished result?
The snowcap of Fuji and the disc of the sun are the only large whites here, so leaving them unpainted keeps the page bright. The eggplants are the one place for a deep colour, and a dark purple there anchors the whole picture. On the hawk, vary the browns between the wing feathers instead of filling them flat, and keep the river and the mountain slope pale so the bird stays in front.
Can this coloring page be used for care-home activities?
Yes. Almost every Japanese adult knows the saying, so this page makes an easy conversation starter in reminiscence-style sessions. Ask what people saw in their first dream this year, or whether they were taught the phrase as children, and colour while you talk.
