Paper fortune, Omikuji

Although paper fortune telling is one of the features at shrines and temples, there are many people beliving a Japanese saying that says, "No one can tell whether the prediction will come true or not." I hadn't found any special meaning for drawing a sacred lot more than a common practice, either. However, one day, a person who worked at Nigatsudo (二月堂) said that paper fortune is not the one that predicts your future, but tells how your present status is. Then, I changed my mind. Now I draw a sacred lot to learn my present status whenever I visit my favorite place, Nigatsudo.

If you have a chance to visit Nigatsudo, please draw a sacred lot after praying. All you have to do is just drawing a number from a cylindrical box by shaking it. (200 yen) According to the number you have drawn, a fortune telling agent takes out a sheet of fortune paper from an old drawer and gives it to you. Nigatsudo's paper fortune tells your fortune with a picture, Chinese poems, and explanation in archaic Japanese. It also shows your fotune with six to seven variations from 大吉,中吉,小吉,吉,凶,大凶, etc. 大吉 means "Excellent" and 大凶 means "Extremely unlucky".


If you want to enjoy another paper fortune telling, please visit Kasuga Grand Shrine. Kasuga offers paper fortune with a deer-shaped, wooden figure. (500 yen) They have paper fortune in English, too.