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| Votive talismans designed for the home |
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| Ofuda, andJingū taima when fromIse Jingu |
| Votive paper slips applied to the gates of shrines |
| Senjafuda |
| Amulets sold at shrines for luck and protection |
| Omamori |
| Wooden plaques representing prayers and wishes |
| Ema |
| Paper fortunes received by making a small offering |
| O-mikuji |
| Stamps collected at shrines |
| Shuin |
Omikuji (御御籤/御神籤/おみくじ)[1] are randomfortunes written on strips of paper atShinto shrines andBuddhist temples inJapan. Literally "sacredlot", these are usually received by making a small offering and randomly choosing one from a box, hoping for the resulting fortune to be good. As of 2024[update], vending machines sometimes dispenseomikuji.[citation needed]
Theomikuji 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 apine 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 pine tree (松,matsu) and the verb 'to wait' (待つ,matsu), 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.Omikuji 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 anema, which is then tied to an ad hoc scaffold, also exists.
Theomikuji sequence historically commonly used in Japanese Buddhist temples, consisting of one hundred prophetic five-characterquatrains, is traditionally attributed to theHeian periodTendai monkRyōgen (912–985), posthumously known as Jie Daishi (慈恵大師) or more popularly, Ganzan Daishi (元三大師), and is thus calledGanzan Daishi Hyakusen (元三大師百籤,lit. 'Ganzan Daishi's One Hundred Lots') or theKannon Hyakusen (観音百籤, "Avalokiteśvara's One Hundred Lots"), after a legend claiming that these verses were revealed to him by theBodhisattvaAvalokiteśvara (Kannon).[2][3][4]
Historically, however, the Japaneseomikuji system is thought to have been modeled after the Chinesekau chim, 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 16) is preserved inTendai-ji inIwate Prefecture, suggesting that this method of fortune telling was imported to Japan somewhere before theMuromachi period (1336–1573).[5][6] The quatrains of theGanzan Daishi Hyakusen are themselves ultimately based on a set of oracles dating from theSouthern Song period (1127-1279) known as theTiānzhú língqiān (天竺靈籤,lit. 'Indian Numinous Lot'; Japanese:Tenjiku reisen).[7][8]
TheGanzan Daishi Hyakusen became popular in theEdo period due to the notable monkTenkai (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 atTogakushi Shrine inShinano Province (modernNagano Prefecture) and widely disseminated. TheGanzan Daishi Hyakusen eventually became standard across many Buddhist temples (even those not affiliated with the Tendai school) and served as a model for otheromikuji sequences. Various books explaining the meaning of the oracles were published during the period, suggesting their widespread popularity.[3][6][9]
The standardGanzan Daishi Hyakusen sequence contains the following fortunes (from best to worst):
Other sequences may include additional degrees such as "middle blessing" (中吉,chū-kichi), "great misfortune" (大凶,dai-kyō), or "blessing [and] misfortune still undetermined" (吉凶未分,kikkyō imada wakarazu; i.e. one's fortune could end up being either good or bad depending on one's actions).
It then lists fortunes regarding specific aspects of one's life, which may include any number of the following among other possible combinations:
The random fortunes infortune cookies may be derived fromomikuji; this is claimed by Seiichi Kito of Fugetsu-Do,[10] and supported by evidence that American fortune cookies derive from 19th centuryKyoto crackers calledtsujiura senbei.[11]
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