During the early days of January in particular, when it seems the whole nation moves en masse to a shrine or temple, picking an omikuji (randomly chosen fortune) is a very popular practice indeed, with even the purchasing of one being quite pleasant.
The only trouble is, having read them from a very early age, an especially bad one can wind up being a bit of a worry for some.
Fortunately, however, these can be conveniently tied onto something appropriate, and happily forgotten.
Hopefully.
tamh says
Once upon a time, in a japanese festival in my country, I had the joy of participating on that special practice.
They even translated the texts to english. The highlight of that day: I got Very Bad Luck. The card even mentioned that I would never find the love of my life, that my parents would die… It was incredibly… inaccurate.
But fun to say the least!
Lizzy says
That last young lady definitely looks quite troubled.
AdelaideBen says
And the good thing is that if you tie them (so the tradition goes) to the appropriate shrine wall/posts for the local kami to sort out. All very convenient… but it’s actually sort of fun (in a bizarre way) to get something horrendously bad. I love it, and when we’re over here in Australia, my wife’s family will send us omikuji for fun (though on second thoughts, there’s no where to tie them up here if it’s a bad one… er… didn’t think of that).