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Excerpt from "Myths and Legends of Japan" by F. Hadland Davis
The Dragon is undoubtedly the most famous of mythical beasts, but, though Chinese in origin, it has become intimately associated with Japanese mythology. The creature lives for the most part in the ocean, river, or lake, but it has the power of flight and rules over clouds and tempests. The Dragon of China and Japan resemble each other, with the exception that the Japanese Dragon has three claws, while that of the Celestial Kingdom (China) has five. The Chinese Emperor Yao was said to be the son of a dragon, and many rulers of that country were metaphorically referred to as "dragon-faced."

The Dragon has the head of a camel, horns or a deer, eyes of a hare, scales of a carp, paws of a tiger, and claws resembling those of an eagle. In addition it has whiskers, a bright jewel under its chin, and a measure on the top of its head which enables it to ascend to Heaven at will. This is merely a general description and does not apply to all dragons, some of which have heads of so extraordinary a kind that they cannot be compared with anything in the animal kingdom. The breath of the Dragon changes into clouds from which come either rain or fire. It is able to expand or contract its body, and in addition it has the power of transformation and invisibility. -- end excerpt  

 Dragon, Ceiling Painting at Tenryu-ji, Kyoto
Tenryu-ji is a World Heritage Site. This ceiling painting
was first created in 1899, and restored in 1997. It
measures about 18 meters across. Drawn on
Japanese paper attached to ceiling plates (tiles).
 Photo scanned from Temple Catalog.
Tenryu translates directly as "Heaven Dragon."


 Close-up of above Tenryu-ji ceiling painting

Four Dragons, Four Seas
In both Chinese and Japanese mythology, the dragon is closely associated with the watery realm, and four dragon kings are said to rule over the four seas (which in the old Chinese conception limited the habitable earth).

• Celestial Dragon; rules over the Mansions of the Gods
• Spiritual Dragon; presides over rain
• Earth Dragon; determines the course or rivers
• Dragon of Hidden Treasure; guards precious metals and stones

Four Guardians of the Four Directions; Four Celestial Emblems
In both Chinese and Japanese mythology, the dragon is one of four legendary creatures guarding the four cosmic directions (Red Bird - S, Dragon - E, Tortoise - N, and the Tiger - W). The four appear during China's Warring States period (476 BC - 221 BC), and were frequently painted on the walls of early Chinese and Korean tombs to ward off evil spirits. The Dragon is the Guardian of the East, and is identified with the season spring, the color blue, the element water, and Yang male energy. The Guardian of the South, the Red Bird (aka Suzaku, Ho-oo, Phoenix), is the enemy of the dragon, as is the bird-man Karura. Actually, the Phoenix is the mythological enemy of all naga, a Sanskrit term covering all types of serpentine creatures, including snakes and dragons. The Dragon (East) and Phoenix (South) both represent Yang energy, but they are often depicted as enemies, for the Dragon represents the element wood, while the Phoenix signifies the element fire. However, they're also depicted as partners. The Dragon is the male counterpart to the female Phoenix, and together they symbolize both conflict and wedded bliss. For many more details, see the Phoenix page and the Four Celestial Emblems page.

Unryu, Cloud Dragon
Ceiling Painting, Late 1990s, Kencho-ji Temple, Kamakura
Painted by artist Koizumi Junsaku on 48 panels.
Took about three years to create, and measures
approx. 10 meters by 12 meters in size.
Photo Courtesy Kenchoji Web Site.

Yellow Dragon, White Dragon
A yellow dragon is said to have presented the Chinese with a scroll inscribed with mystic characters, and this tradition is said to be the legendary origin of the Chinese system of writing. In China, yellow dragon robes are reserved for the Emporer and his family. The dragon is also used as a symbol for the Chinese Emperor, the Son of Heaven. In earlier times, the color of a dragon robe reflected the rank of its wearer. Yellow for the Emperor and Empress, apricot for the Crown Prince, golden yellow for the emperor's other wives. Lower-ranked people probably wore blue. There is also a white dragon, which according to legend can transform into a bird called O-Goncho. When this bird appears, it forewarns of a great famine to come. (Adapted from Kyoto National Museum research, kyohaku.go.jp/mus_dict/hd19e.htm) 

Dragon robe, Kyoto National Museum
 from China, Ming Dynasty, 16 century, at Myoho-in

Dragon at Ryutakuji Temple

Dragon water well at Ryutakuji

Dragon King's Palace
Origin of the Dragon's Japanese Name
In Japanese mythology, the Dragon King's Palace (Ryugu) is said to be located at the bottom of the sea, near the Ryuku Islands (Okinawa), and it belongs to Ryujin, the Japanese name for the dragon king. The palace is also known as the "Evergreen Land." In his book Japanese Poetry, Professor B. H. Chamberlain says the Japanese word for Dragon Palace (ryugu, or ryukyu) is likewise the Japanese pronunciation of the southernmost Ryuku islands (Okinawan islands). He writes about one ode in the Man-yu-shu, which says the orange was first brought to Japan from the "Evergreen Land" lying to the south.

The many-storied palace is built from red and white coral, guarded by dragons, and full of treasure, especially the Tide Jewels, which control the ebb and flow of tidal waters. Fish and other sea life serve Ryujin as vassals, with the turtle acting as the dragon's main messenger. On the north side of the palace there is the Winter Hall, where snow falls all the time. On the eastern side lies the Hall of Spring where butterflies visit cherry blossoms while the nightingale sings. On the southern side of the palace is the Summer Hall where crickets chirp in the warm evening. Finally, on the western side is the Autumn Hall where the maple trees glow in bright colors. For a human, a day in this palace is like 100 years on earth. (need to quote source of above text)

The Tale of Urashima
Once there was a young fisherman named Urashima, who caught a tortoise in his nets. But as tortoises are said to live thousands of years, Urashima thought it best to set the creature free. Little did he know, but this turtle was Otohime, the dragon king's daughter, in disguise. (Note: In Japanese mythology, the turtle is the messenger of the dragon.) The turtle-princess invited the young man to her father's court where she appeared to him in the shape of a beautiful women, and married him. After three days, Urashima felt a strong desire to visit his aging parents. But when he returned to his land, he discovered that 300 years had passed (one day in the dragon kingdom represents 100 years for humans). Since all his loved ones had long since departed, Urashima was stricken with grief, and desired to return to this dragon wife. Not knowing how to return to the dragon palace, Urashima opened the magic box (Tamate-Bako, or Box of the Jewel Hand) his wife had given him as a keepsake of their love. But she had told him never to open the box. When he opened the box, hoping to find a way back to her, he immediately lost his youth, became old and wrinkled, and fell dead upon the ground.

The Tale of Hoori
Long ago, the Dragon King's daughter Toyo-Tama (Rich Jewel) married a hunter named Hoori (Fire Fade; or Yama-Sachi-biko), who lived with her for three years in her underwater kingdom. Lonely for the site of his own country, however, Hoori returned to the upper world, but not before discovering that Toyo-Tama was with child. The son she bore him later sired four children, one of whom was Kamu-Yamato-Iware-Biko, the first human Emperor of Japan, who is now known as Jimmu Tenno. Incidentally, Hoori himself was the child of Ninigi (Rice Ear Ruddy Plenty) and Ko-no-Hana (Princess who makes the flowers of the trees to blossom). Ninigi was the grandson of Amaterasu. Hoori and his children thus trace their line back to Japan's earliest gods and goddesses.

For an extended version of the Hoori tale, which includes many older Shinto names for the various deities involved, please click here. This site also offers the tales of Toyo-tama and of Ninigi, plus a family tree of the ancient gods and goddesses of Japan. 

Rain from Ryujin
In both China and Japan, the dragon is associated closely with rain, storms, and clouds, and it is the dragon who produces rain. In the Heian Period, two Buddhist temples -- To-ji (East Temple) and Sai-ji (West Temple) -- shared control of Japan's religious world, and an interesting legend grew out of the power struggle between the two temples. Envious of Kukai (Kobo Daishi) for his fame as head of To-ji Temple, a priest named Shubin of Sai-ji Temple used a charm to entrap Ryujin in a jar, thereby causing an extensive drought. Challenged by Shubin to a contest at Shinsen Garden, Kukai dispelled the curse of Shubin, and set the Ryujin free to cause rain to fall. In Chinese myth, the dragon rain god is often depicted with a pearl or ball, which symbolizes thunder.

God of Fire Fighters -- Dragon Tattoo
From http://208.55.77.56/alterasian/arttattooirezumi4.html
Perhaps the most ubiquitous of all Japanese mythological beasts tattooed in the West is the dragon. Dragons are clearly very alluring creatures, and it is as common to see a tattoo of a dragon in Britain as it is in Japan. Because the dragon can live in both air and water, it is believed to offer protection from fire. For this reason it was often chosen by Edo-period fire fighters who tattooed themselves superstitiously for protection in their work.

Lucky Motifs on a Dragon Robe
www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/dictio/data/senshoku/c_ryuho.htm
Below text courtesy of Kyoto National Museum
The Dragon Robes, worn by the Emperor and his retainers in the Qing Dynasty, are especially rich in auspicious motifs.

DRAGON ROBE
Courtesy Kyoto National Museum
 www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/dictio/data/senshoku/c_ryuho.htm

Even though the dragon is an imaginary animal, it was long regarded as a god in China and was loved and respected as the highest symbol of good luck in the animal kingdom. The dragon thus became a symbol representing the dignity of Emperor, who was considered to be the ruler of the earth.

This Dragon Robe has nine, five-clawed, two-horned dragons (not including the dragons on the black bands on the sleeves and cuffs). There are four forward-facing dragons on the front and back of the robe. Then there is a pair of dragons facing each other on both the front and back. That makes eight. The last dragon is on the chest area, but is covered by the front flap. This robe was worn by someone in the Imperial Family. A lower ranked official would never have nine dragons, and the dragons would have four instead of five claws.

The dragons are surrounded by lots of clouds. These clouds look like a kind of mushroom called ling zhi mushrooms, so they are called ling zhi clouds. They are an auspicious symbol of perrenial youth. Scattered among the clouds are other good luck symbols, such as an ancient Chinese good-luck symbol that looks like a backwards swastika, peaches, and flying bats.

You might wonder why the bat is a good omen. This is because, in China, instead of writing actual good luck characters (words), objects with the same pronounciation as the lucky characters are often used instead. The Chinese word for "bat" happens to have the same pronounciation as the characters for "good luck," so the bat has become a symbol of good luck! In the same way, ten has the same pronounciation as the word for "ten-thousand," another symbol of happiness. When you put the characters "ten-thousand" together with the characters for "good luck," the resulting combination means "all health and happiness." The peaches are a symbol of long life. When you combine long life and good luck, they mean "long and happy life." The bats flying among the clouds on this robe are a reddish color. The pronounciation of the characters for "skies full of red bats" is the same pronounciation as characters meaning "the heavens are full of happiness and good fortune." The robe also has the actual characters for "long life" and others lucky words as motifs.

At the bottom of the pattern section of the robe, there is a design of ocean waves with mountain peaks jutting up on the front back and sides. The combination of the ocean and mountains together means "unification of the people." Floating among the waves are another set of motifs, the lucky "Eight Treasures," which symbolically represent that the sea is the source of all treasure houses. There are different variations for these Eight Treasures depending on whether they have Buddhist or Taoist meanings. The Eight Treasures on this Dragon Robe come primarily from Buddhist legends and are as follows:   

Take another look at the whole robe. It actually tells a story. The bottom has the sea with its waves. Floating above the waves are the Eight Treasures, and above the sea, mountains rise up in the four directions. Above that are the heavens, filled with dragons and other lucky omens. In the lovely colors and moralistic themes found in this Dragon Robe are the spiritual ideals of Chinese culture.

Above text by Shigeki Kawakami, Department of Applied Arts

Draco
http://www.khandro.net/mysterious_dragon1.htm
Around 1,800 BC, the celestial indicator (the "pole star") was not the modern-day North Star (Polaris), but rather Thuban, a star in the constellation known as Draco or Dragon. Draco is the 8th largest of the conventional constellations curving from the "pointers" of the Dipper (Ursa Minor) to brilliant Vega. To the observer of today, there is no bright star in the configuration. Yet, the passages in the great pyramid at Gizeh (Egypt) once acted as channels for the light of the star that is called Thuban. It is now known that those pyramids were oriented to Orion and, at the time of the building of the Sphinx, to Leo.

It has been demonstrated that Angkor Wat, the great Khmer (Cambodian) Buddhist shrine was built in alignment with this celestial formation. However, in 1,150 CE the constellation of the Dragon was upside down over the site's medieval buildings, but impressively, in the era of 10,500 BC, traces of the very earliest structures there mirrored the Dragon constellation exactly.

The transition from one ruling celestial system to another is marked in the mythologies of the world by accounts of the overthrow of  Titans (Greek) or Ashuras (Indian) by Gods or Devas. Naturally, this displacement had to be justified, and so the serpentine heavenly Mother, Tiamat of the early Mesopotamians, is considered by devotees of the newer deity, Marduk, as an evil draconian monster.

The flying dragon whose abode is the heavens is universally recognized as a symbol of the Chinese culture and its people. Chinese refer to themselves as "Descendents of the Dragon."

It is believed that on rare occasions dragons have the power to transform themselves into handsome humans who, male or female, can mate with people. For example, former Japanese Emperor Hirohito claimed descent from Princess Fruitful Jewel, daughter of a sea Dragon King. It is this belief that lies at the root of the dragon, which is often used in Asia as the crest or emblem of a royal house.

Five-clawed dragon at Kencho-ji Temple in Japan. See above for details. Painted in the 1990s. Here, Japanese dragon iconographcy does not abide with traditional Chinese notions about the number of claws.

Five, Four, Three Claws
According to most sources, the dragon of China and Japan resemble each other, with the exception that the Japanese dragon has only three claws, while that of the Celestial Kingdom (China) has five.

www.khandro.net
Much has been made of these distinguishing characteristics among Asian dragons. There is an iconographic convention in which the common dragon has only four claws. The five-clawed dragon, in contrast, is reserved for the Chinese imperial family, while the colonial type (such as the Japanese dragon) has only three claws.

Another View of Dragon Claws
From Wikipedia Page
Chinese or Korean imperial dragons have five toes on each foot; Indonesian dragons have four and Japanese dragons have three. To explain this phenomenon, Chinese legend states that although dragons originated in China, the further away from China a dragon went the fewer toes it had, and dragons only exist in China, Korea, Indonesia, and Japan because if they travelled further they would have no toes to continue. Japanese legend has an opposing story, namely that dragons originated in Japan, and the further they traveled the more toes they grew and as a result, if they went too far they would have too many toes to continue to walk properly. These theories are rejected in Korea and Indonesia.

Another interpretation: according to several sources, including official documents from earlier times, ordinary Chinese dragons had four toes -- but the Imperial Dragon had five. It was a capital offense for anyone other than the emperor to use the five-clawed dragon motif. Korean sources seem to disagree (or perhaps agree) with this theory, as the Imperial dragon in Gyeongbok Palace has seven claws, implying its superiority over the Chinese Dragon. Of course, this dragon image is hidden in the rafters of the palace and not entirely in view, even to those who know it is there, suggesting that while the ancient Koreans viewed it as superior, they also knew that it would be offensive to the Imperial Chinese Court.

Dragon robe, China, Qing Dynasty, 17 century
 courtesy metmuseum.org

Dragon Mythology
Exerpt from "An Encyclopedia of Myth and Legend:
Chinese Mythology" by Derek Walters as found at:
www.sempai.org/~felicia/myth.html#suzaku
"One of the oldest symbolic animals, stylized forms of which are a feature of the decoration of ancient bronzes cast before the invention of writing. In complete contrast to Western mythology, however, Dragons are rarely depicted as malevolent. They may be fearsome and very powerful, and all stand in awe of the dragon-kings, but they are equally considered just, benevolent, and the bringers of wealth and good fortune. There are, of course, legends of the various immortals battling against evil dragons, but such monsters would be foreign ones. Local dragons are to be respected, feared, and petitioned as one would petition a just and honest ruler. For this reason, the dragon symbol is the sign of authority, being worn on the robes of the Imperial family and nobility. Dragons are generally considered to be aquatic, living in lakes, rivers and the sea, the larger the expanse of water, the more powerful the dragon. Nevertheless, there are dragons which inhabit the heavens, one quarter of the sky being called the Palace of the Green Dragon, in reference to the stars which in Chinese astronomy constitute the constellation of the Dragon. Even so, the appearance of the Dragon constellation is said to herald the rainy season (Walters)."

HACHIDAI RYUU-OU ”ͺ‘ε—³‰€
Hachidai Ryuu-ou (Eight Great Dragon Kings) are mentioned in the Lotus Sutra (HOKEKYOU –@‰ΨŒo) and they appear sometimes in Japanese artwork. These eight are dragon kings said to live at the bottom of the sea, apparently in reference to the eight dragon kings, each with many followers, who assembled at Eagle Peak to hear the Lotus Sutra as expounded by the Historical Buddha. According to the Kairyuo Sutra (Sutra of the Dragon King of the Sea), dragons are often eaten by giant man-birds called garudas, their natural enemy. The Phoenix is another enemy of the dragon. Nanda Ryuuou, who is one member of the Hachidai group, can sometimes represent the whole set, as he does in the Hokke Mandala –@‰Ψ™ΦδΆ—….

Dragon, Wood Carving on Gate
 at Engakuji Temple in Kita-Kamakura

Large-scale dragon compositions came to be painted on the walls of imperial buildings and of temples. In painting for the Zen ‘T sects, especially, depictions of dragons and tigers (ryuuko-zu —³ŒΥ}) were frequently paired. The famous ink paintings by Muqi –q