The twelve duodenary animals. Literally “twelve branches,” this system of counting was developed in China sometime prior to 1100 B.C.E, and imported into Japan during the early seventh century. It was used as a means for indicating the year, day or time of day, and cardinal directions. It was also used in a complex system of divination. Each of the twelve “branches” is associated with an animal and a direction. The twelve animals are the rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog and boar.