Ho-Tei laughing buddha standing

Hotei

The god of contentment and happiness, guardian of children and patron of bartenders.
Hotei 布袋 has a happy face and a big belly. He is believed to be based on a real person and is widely recognized outside Japan as the fat, laughing Buddha.
He carries a large cloth bag on his back (Nunobukuro 布袋, illuminated = cloth bag), a bag that is never emptied, because he uses it to feed the poor and needy.
It contains an inexhaustible cache of treasures, including food and drink. Indeed, the Japanese spelling of "Hotei" literally means "cloth bag".
Hotei is most likely based on the itinerant 10th-century Chinese Buddhist monk and hermit Budaishi (d. 917), who is said to be an incarnation of Miroku Bodhisattva (Maitreya in Sanskrit).

Hotei is sometimes shown surrounded by a group of small children, romping and squeaking with pleasure around its round shape. Lately, Hotei has been referred to as the patron saint of restaurateurs and bartenders. When one eats and drinks too much, one can sometimes jokingly attribute it to the influence of Hotei.