# Children at play

童 warabe

![Children at play](https://www.furoshiki.com/swatches/warabe.svg)

Children at play (warabe, or karako in the Chinese style), a wish for healthy, happy children; a baby and family-gift motif.

Chinese karako painting (Song dynasty); Kanō school and ukiyo-e in Japan

Children at play (karako asobi) was a favourite subject of Chinese Song Academy painters, showing boys in Chinese dress at games or with the jolly god Hotei. In Japan the Kanō school painted it often, it appeared on ceramics and lacquer, and ukiyo-e artists such as Harunobu and Kiyonaga made playful Japanese versions. Crowds of playing children express the wish for many healthy descendants.

Karako figures are a classic on Imari porcelain and baby gifts.

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Source: https://www.furoshiki.com/patterns/warabe/