Good luck

One day, I will go to the Senso-ji temple, sit down in front of one of the Omikuji walls and count how many people come to have their fortune told in the course of an hour. Everyone paying 100 yen. Whenever we go or pass there, at any hour, day or night, there are always people wanting to know their fortune.

Senso-ji by night

Having the future predicted and praying for something, is very common. A Japanese friend once told me, there are thousands of gods in Japan’s shinto belief system, just ask for something, anything, there will certainly be a god who listens to it.

Personally, I don’t do much praying but I like the aesthetics of it here in Japan. Of course you can pray silently but you can also buy (!!) a badge, write down your wish and hang it on a rack. Depending on the temple, the badges have different images on them and can also vary in shape.

Written down wishes

Collected wishes prepared to be burned on New Year’s Eve

Discarded fortunes – if you draw good luck, take it home, if you draw bad luck, leave it at the temple….

Not sure what those were, but they looked pretty on the trees in front of a temple

Despite not being a religious person, I could of course not resist to also draw my fortune. At Senso-ji temple they nicely explain it in English :-)

Explanation how to draw an omikuji

This container is filled with wooden sticks. First you shake it – kind of like a cocktail – then you flip it until a stick comes out of the little hole,

Read the number of the stick, put the stick back in the container and take your fortune out of the drawer with your number on. As the number was written in Japanese, it took me some time to find the correct drawer :-)

And here it is! Not too bad I thought. Until I saw J’s one….

THE best fortune :-)