A Written Oracle

Visiting a shrine in Japan is a must! It's really fun, especially if you read manga or watch anime because you are able to experience what you read or see. But before I was able to enter however, I had to cleanse myself by the well right outside the entrance of the shrine. It was basically just rinsing my hands and gargling the ice cold water from the well. After that, I was able to get myself omikuji for 100 yen, which is a 'written oracle' or fortune. People who receive bad luck or those who want to improve their luck can tie their omikuji on the racks. I got excellent fortune and had the option to keep it with me. But as much as I wanted to keep my fortune as memorabilia, I also really wanted to experience tying my fortune on the rack, and so I did.

There were also some racks filled with wooden boards and writing one them. I don't quite know how that works. I can only infer that people can buy those wooden boards from the shrine (the Rilakkuma sold for 500 yen per piece), write a wish on them and hang it on one of the racks. I should have just bought the Rilakkuma board and brought it home with me, ha ha. While I was there, I was also able to witness a little procession. Never did I expect to see shrine maidens, but I did and just look how pretty they are! Do shrines sell these costumes?

Oh, and some trivia: I learned from my tour guide that when entering a shrine or someone's home, it's common courtesy to not step on the line seperating the inside from the outside. If I remember correctly, he explained that the line is where the god flows. Something like that.. :3