device for fortune telling
- Japanese way of predicting the future
- Wooden box: 27/13.5/13.5 cm
- Sticks: Bamboo, 21.5 cm long, D.: 6.5 mm
- Lettering of the bars with numbers 1-?
- Inscription on the box: Ryu sen ji
- Temple on Awji Island, in Nagaoko, Niigata Prefecture
Used mostly at New Year's to interpret the future for the coming year.
How to use this future prediction device.
The believer gives the monk at the temple a donation of money, then he pulls a stick out of the device on which a number is then written. The monk gives the believer the corresponding lucky ticket (this ceremony is called: Omikuji or Mikuji). After reading, this note is either taken with you or tied to the branches of a tree at the temple. In Japan you can do this at all Buddhic temples. This ceremony is comparable to the Chinese fortune cookies.
Buddhismus
Buddhism reached Japan in 552 (verifiable) through Korean monks.
Until the Meji period it was the main religion of Japan. Around 1870 Shintoism became the state religion in Japan.
Buddhism can be divided into many different directions, which were decisively involved in the emergence of Japanese aesthetics.
Here are a few examples: Zen (originated in China, 5th century.), Soto-Shu (school), Rinzai-shu.
Origin of my offered object:
Some of these pieces come from the Japanese art trade or directly from temples and monasteries.
In Japan, as in our country, there is a considerable lack of young people, so that some of them have to be abandoned, which means that the sacred objects are offered on the market.