Mizaru, Mikazaru and Iwazaru are the names of the three what?
Three wise monkeys Three wise monkeys The three wise monkeys are a pictorial maxim, embodying the proverbial principle "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". The three monkeys are Mizaru, covering his eyes, who sees no evil; Kikazaru, covering his ears, who hears no evil; and Iwazaru, covering his mouth, who speaks no evil. Lafcadio Hearn refers to them as the three mystic apes in his "Glimpses of unfamiliar Japan" (volume 2, page 127). There are various meanings ascribed to the monkeys and the proverb including associations with being of good mind, speech and action. In the Western world the phrase
Three wise monkeys is often used to refer to those who deal with impropriety by turning a blind eye. Outside Japan the monkeys' names are sometimes given as "Mizaru", "Mikazaru", and "Mazaru", as the last two names were corrupted from the Japanese originals. The monkeys are Japanese macaques, a common species in Japan. The source that popularized this pictorial maxim is a 17th-century carving over a door of the famous Tōshō-gū shrine in Nikkō, Japan. The carvings at Tōshō-gū Shrine were carved by Hidari Jingoro, and believed to have incorporated Confucius’s Code of Conduct, using the monkey as a way to depict man’s