are random fortunes written on strips of paper at

Shinto shrines A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The '' honden''Also called (本殿, meani ...

and

Buddhist temples A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represen ...

in Japan. Literally "sacred lot", these are usually received by making a small offering and randomly choosing one from a box, hoping for the resulting fortune to be good. , coin-slot machines sometimes dispense . The predicts the person's chances of their hopes coming true, of finding a good match, or generally matters of health, fortune, life, etc. When the prediction is bad, it is a custom to fold up the strip of paper and attach it to a pine tree or a wall of metal wires alongside other bad fortunes in the temple or shrine grounds. A purported reason for this custom is a pun on the word for and the verb , the idea being that the bad luck will wait by the tree rather than attach itself to the bearer. In the event of the fortune being good, the bearer has two options: they can also tie it to the tree or wires so that the fortune has a greater effect or they can keep it for luck. are available at many shrines and temples, and remain one of the traditional activities related to shrine or temple-going. A similar custom of writing a prayer on a specially-prepared wooden block called an , which is then tied to an ad hoc scaffold, also exists.

History

The sequence historically commonly used in Japanese Buddhist temples, consisting of one hundred prophetic five-

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

quatrains A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines. Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India, Ancient Gree ...

, is traditionally attributed to the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese ...

Tendai , also known as the Tendai Lotus School (天台法華宗 ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just "''hokke shū''") is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition (with significant esoteric elements) officially established in Japan in 806 by the Japanese m ...

monk

Ryōgen was the 18th chief abbot of Enryaku-ji in the 10th century. He is considered a restorer of the Tendai school of Mahayana Buddhism, and credited for reviving Enryaku-ji.English display at the TNM His supposed role as a precursor of the ''sōhei ...

(912–985), posthumously known as or more popularly, , and is thus called or the , after a legend claiming that these verses were revealed to him by the

Bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

Avalokiteśvara In Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara (Sanskrit: अवलोकितेश्वर, IPA: ) is a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. He has 108 avatars, one notable avatar being Padmapāṇi (lotus bearer). He is variably depicted, ...

(Kannon). Historically, however, the Japanese system is thought to have been modeled after the Chinese , a similar form of divination involving a tube full of bamboo sticks and a sequence of written or printed oracles. A wooden container containing oracular lots dated 1409 (

Ōei was a after ''Meitoku'' and before ''Shōchō''. This period spanned the years from July 1394 through April 1428. Reigning emperors were and . Change of era * 1394 : The new era name was created because of plague. The previous era ended and a ...

16) is preserved in Tendai-ji in Iwate Prefecture, suggesting that this method of fortune telling was imported to Japan somewhere before the

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...

(1336–1573). The quatrains of the are themselves ultimately based on a set of oracles dating from the Southern Song period (1127-1279) known as the (, ; Japanese: ). The became popular in the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

due to the notable monk

Tenkai was a Japanese Tendai Buddhist monk of the Azuchi-Momoyama and early Edo periods. He achieved the rank of ''Daisōjō'', the highest rank of the priesthood. His Buddhist name was first , which he changed to Tenkai in 1590. Also known as , he ...

(1536–1643), who is credited with attaching Ryōgen's name to it. A story related by one of Tenkai's disciples claims that Tenkai was once visited in a dream by Ryōgen, who revealed to him the existence of the 100 quatrains, which had been supposedly lost for centuries. Copies of these short poems were eventually discovered at

Togakushi Shrine The is a Shinto shrine in Togakushi, Nagano (city), Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The shrine is at the base of Mount Togakushi () in Myōkō-Togakushi Renzan National Park. Togakushi Shrine consists of five shrines, known as the lower, middle, ...

in Shinano Province (modern Nagano Prefecture) and widely disseminated. The eventually became standard across many Buddhist temples (even those not affiliated with the Tendai school) and served as a model for other sequences. Various books explaining the meaning of the oracles were published during the period, suggesting their widespread popularity.

Fortunes

The standard sequence contains the following fortunes (from best to worst): * * * * * * * Other sequences may include additional degrees such as , , or . It then lists fortunes regarding specific aspects of one's life, which may include any number of the following among other possible combinations: * – auspicious/inauspicious directions (see feng shui) * – one's wish or desire * – a person being waited for * – lost article(s) * – travel * – business dealings * – studies or learning * – market speculation * – disputes * – romantic relationships * – moving or changing residence * – childbirth, delivery * – illness * – marriage proposal or engagement

Relation to fortune cookies

The random fortunes in

fortune cookie A fortune cookie is a crisp and sugary cookie wafer usually made from flour, sugar, vanilla, and sesame seed oil with a piece of paper inside, a "fortune", usually an aphorism, or a vague prophecy. The message inside may also include a Chine ...

s may be derived from ; this is claimed by Seiichi Kito of Fugetsu-Do, and supported by evidence that American fortune cookies derive from 19th century

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...

crackers called . Lee, Jennifer 8. (January 16, 2008).
Solving a Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside a Cookie
"feb 24 2004 how to see your fortune the fortune cookie" ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. Retrieved on January 16, 2008.

Gallery

File:Omikuji-kurabe.jpg, Young people in Osaka comparing on New Year's Eve File:KasugaTaisha2.jpg, Tying at

Kasuga Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan. It is the shrine of the Fujiwara family, established in 768 CE and rebuilt several times over the centuries. The interior is famous for its many bronze lanterns, as well as the many stone lan ...

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...

File:Omikuji vending machine.jpg, An vending machine at Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū File:ポケットおみくじ (マクロ撮影) 1.JPG, Pocket File:ポケットおみくじ (マクロ撮影) 3.JPG, Decorative pocket File:FujisanSimomiyaOmuroSengen O-mikujiRitual 宵祭り神籤神事.jpg, ritual at Omuro Sengen Shrine,

Fujiyoshida is a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 48,782 in 19,806 households and a population density of 400 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Fujiyoshida lies at the northern ...

, Yamanashi File:Sensoji Omikuji cabinet.jpg, Children drawing fortune sticks from a metal cylinder at Asakusa Temple ( Sensoji) in Tokyo, Japan. File:Omikuji bad fortune.jpg, A bad fortune (, upper right) drawn at the

Toyokawa Inari , popularly known as Toyokawa Inari ('' shinjitai'': 豊川稲荷; '' kyūjitai'': 豐川稲荷), is a Sōtō Zen Buddhist temple located in the city of Toyokawa in eastern Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Although the temple's main image is that of ...

branch temple in Tokyo, Japan.

References

External links