Hey y’all today I’m gonna teach you about a Japanese cultural business tradition I’ve learnt recently on my day trip to Asakusa in Tokyo. Every year, in November, many Japanese business owners go to special shrines such as Otori Jinja shrine in the Asakusa area which we visited.
The tradition is to buy an amulet ( Kumade )which is said to bring commercial good luck and happiness into ones life. The interesting thing with this tradition is that the buyers of the amulet form a relationship with the seller and then buy a small Kumade. They return the following year to the same seller and buy a bigger Kumade and give the older one to the sellers. ( I think they burn them after , who knows, maybe they re-use the parts )
During the process the buyers and the sellers agree on a price and then chant together and clap their hands in a vibrant manner. Watch the video to see the tradition. I myself took part in the festivities.
The Kumade consist of handmade animals made of wood such as the famous meneke Neko ( good fortune cat often seen in Japanese business) as well as turtles , Dogs, phoenixes, gold fishes and occasionally happy traditional doll faces. The handle is made of bamboo. It is quite a unique and artistic piece of work.
The Kumade is then placed in the buyers establishment’s front hall facing the door usually to the north.
In this video we also witness the Japanese tradition of fortune telling. The cost is 100 yen , the priest then shakes a a cylindrical case which consist of bamboo sticks marked with numbers. Each number represents a sheet of paper which will tell you your fortune fortune. The tradition is called Omikuji.
