Ebisu (2) - Kannazuki and The Legend of Ebisu

Ebisu was originally named Hiruko, meaning "leech child".
Born without bones (or, in some stories, without arms and legs).
The weak child overcame many hardships, grew legs (and, presumably, the rest of his skeletal structure) at the age of three, and became the god Ebisu.^{[citation needed]}
He remains slightly crippled and deaf, but mirthful and auspicious nonetheless (hence the title, "The Laughing God").

He is often depicted wearing a tall hat—the Kazaori Eboshi (風折烏帽子)—holding a rod and a large red bream or sea bass.

Jellyfish are also associated with the god and the fugu restaurants of Japan will often incorporate Ebisu in their motif.

Ebisu's festival is celebrated on the twentieth day of the tenth month, Kannazuki (the month without gods).
In Shinto tradition it was said that the eight million gods of Japan left their shrines and congregated annually at Izumo Taisha.

While the other eight million members of the Japanese pantheon gather at The Grand Shrine of Izumo, Ebisu does not hear the summons and is thus still available for worship.

Until 1873 the tenth month of the lunar calendar largely overlapped with the modern month of November. However, after the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in Japan in that year October became generally accepted as the "godless month".