I must admit to having been surprised to discover, practically in my dotage, that the Three Wise Monkeys originated in Japanese culture (or, even earlier, in China – see below).
According to Wikipedia, the original source is a 17th–century carving over a door of "the famous Tōshō–gū shrine" in Nikkō – a city some 60 miles north of Tokyo. They're believed to have incorporated Confucius's Code of Conduct, using the monkey as a way to depict man's life cycle. There are a total of eight panels, and the monkeys come from the second panel.
The philosophy probably came to Japan, however, with a Tendai–Buddhist legend – originally from China – in the 8th century (Nara Period). It's been suggested that they represent the three dogmas of the so–called middle school of the sect.
© Haydn Thompson 2021