Omikuji (おみくじ）
It’s a new year in Japan. Welcome 2012: Year of the Dragon. New Year’s holiday is a big deal here in Japan. Almost everything is closed on January 1st, and a lot of places won’t open until the 3rd or 4th. The only thing to really do is 初詣 (Hatsumōde), meaning going to a temple or shrine and praying for the new year.
After you pray, you have a chance to buy a piece of paper called Omikuji, that predicts your fortune for the coming year. They range from good to bad, and some people really buy into them while others don’t. They’re usually all written in old-timey Japanese so I never pay too much attention to them. Luckily this year, I had the Yus to help me translate.
Mine (roughly) said things like, you’ll get well quickly if you’re sick, any business endeavors will go well, you’ll find something that’s lost, etc. The most interesting thing is, it said I should focus my direction on the east. The kanji for east is 東 (Higashi) but it can also be read Azuma, the Yus’ last name.
Pretty interesting!
