Post #103705 by BarkerBird on Fri, Jul 23, 2004 1:38 PM

The monkeys are part of a much larger set of monkeys that were meant to show all the stages of life. The 3 famous ones are meant to represent childhood.

http://www.nikko-jp.org/english/toshogu/sanzaru.html

This was described to me as a new era of peace in Japan, and a turning away from war and toward optimism and more artistic pursuits. The Monkeys represented the new life that children would have in the new Japan.