Hatsuwarai Shinto ritual in January

Ebisu-san is blessed with great catches and safety at sea. The custom of shaving off its nose and making it into a talisman still remains today, in reference to the fact that fishermen are the first to reach the fishing zone, in japanese "hana wo toru" which can mean "someone that is amazingly fast" but can also be read as "to take off a nose". As finsherman wish to be the first to reach teh fishing ground, having a piece of its nose is a luck charm. Nowadays people still touch or scape a bit of its nose as a good luck charm.