It is recommendable to draw Omikuji(おみくじ) for visitors who visit temples or shrines in Japan as almost all of Japanese people draw it when they visit temples or shrine as “Hatsumode” that means visiting there on New year’s day.
Omikuji(おみくじ) is the fortune telling paper that can be found at temples and shrines all across Japan.
The fortune paper describes your near future expressing by some fortune levels that ranges from Daikichi(大吉) to Daikyou(大凶). It also describes fortunes for specific aspects such as business, travel and study and so on.
The traditional lotteries was started from milions of years ago.
Detail for fortune levels
Below is a list for common fortune levels.
大吉-Daikichi： Excellent luck, Great luck, Great blessing
中吉-Tyukichi： Fair luck, some luck, Middle blessing
小吉-Syoukichi： A little luck, Small blessing
吉-Kichi： Good luck, Blessing
末吉-Suekichi： Uncertain luck, Least blessing, Ending blessing, Near blessing
凶-Kyou： Bad luck, Curse
大凶-Daikyo： Terrible luck, Certain disaster, Great curse
Representative specific aspects
方角-Hougaku： Direction
失物-Shitsubutsu： Lost things
旅立-Tabidachi： Travel
縁談-Endan： Engagement
商売-Shyobai： Business
相場-Souba： Stock market
待人-Machibito： Waiting for person
病気-Byouki： Illness
勝負-Syoubu： Competition
学問-Gakumon： Study
転居-Tenkyo： Moving
恋愛-Renai： Love
How to draw Omikuji
Basically, Omikuji is completely self-serve from paying to picking up.
Firstly you pay for specified money (usually 100 yen) into the hole located in front of big wooden box. You shake a small vertical box until small bamboo stick come out, and comfirm a number descrived on the stick. Then pull the drawer of same number on big wooden box, then you can take a piece of Omikuji from there.
After read Omikuji
If visitors got bad Omikuji like a Kyou(凶-bad luck), the Omikuji should be tied up to specific wooden spot in the shrine or temple.
The reason why Omikuji should be tied up is to express wanting to connect with God through strong life force of trees.
If you got good Omikuji like a Daikichi(大吉-Excellent luck), you can choose to tie it up to trees or carry it as luckey charm.
Leave a Reply