Who Is the Person with the Umbrella on the Rain Bright?

Of all the Brights in Hwatu, this is the card with the most stories: the Rain Bright. Who is that person standing by the water with an umbrella? There is even a little frog hiding in the picture. Today, let’s go and find the hero of this card.

December Rain Bright (Bi-gwang)

December Swallow Animal

December Ribbon

December Double Junk

Let’s Clear Up a Misunderstanding First

Some people think the Rain Bright is a November card, but in Korean Hwatu it is the card for December. November is the Paulownia card (Ttong-gwang). In Japanese Hanafuda, however, the order is different: November is the willow (rain) and December is the paulownia. So if you remember that the Korean and Japanese month orders differ, you won’t get confused. The months that have a Bright are January, March, August, November and December.

Who Is the Person with the Umbrella?

This person is known to be the Heian-period calligrapher Ono no Michikaze (小野道風, 894–966), said to be counted among the Three Master Calligraphers (Sanseki, 三跡) of Japan. Many people in Korea use the card without knowing who the person in red clothes is, but in Japan he is actually quite a famous figure.

The Frog Story (a Handed-Down Legend)

Long ago, Michikaze was worn out because his calligraphy practice would not go the way he wanted. “I guess I have no talent,” he said, and went out for a walk. On a rainy day by a pond, he saw a frog.

The frog was trying to jump up onto a willow branch. But the branch was too high, and no matter how many times it jumped, it fell. Still, it did not give up and jumped again. Then the wind blew and the branch bent low, and the frog caught hold of it with a snap.

Michikaze slapped his knee. “If even that little frog tries so hard, how hard have I tried?” The story goes that from that day on he practiced calligraphy diligently and became a master. It is a lesson that if you keep trying, even the wind will blow for you at the right moment.

Each Picture on the Card

• The person with the umbrella: said to be Ono no Michikaze
• The frog: the one that was trying so hard to climb the branch
• The willow tree: a scene on a rainy day
• Other December cards: the Swallow Animal, the Ribbon and even the Double Junk all have the same rain picture

About Scoring

How Bright points that include the Rain Bright are counted is decided by the game rules. For the details, check the Scoring rules article.

In a nutshell