Random fortunes written on strips of paper at Shintoshrines in Japan. Tying these strips of paper to trees or wires is a common custom, especially when receiving a negative fortune.
The fortune received is determined by shaking an omikuji-bako, a cylindrical box containing several small sticks. After shaking the box until one of the sticks falls out, the stick will be matched to a specific drawer containing that person's fortune.
Examples
Fortunes
The short messages that may be found on them follow below, ordered tentatively from worst to best:
大凶 (dai-kyou), Great Curse
末凶 (sue-kyou), Future Curse
半凶 (han-kyou), Half-Curse
小凶 (shou-kyou), Small Curse
凶 (kyou), Curse
末小吉 (sue-shou-kichi), Future small Blessing
末吉 (sue-kichi), Future Blessing
半吉 (han-kichi), Half-Blessing
吉 (kichi), Blessing
小吉 (shou-kichi), Small Blessing
中吉 (chuu-kichi), Middle Blessing
大吉 (dai-kichi), Great Blessing
The temples and shrines across Japan do not have a unified system for their omikuji. Some places do not offer the full range of fortunes, and a few offer an additional fortune rank:
平 (hira), Neutral
How the unmodified "Blessing" ranks compare to Small and Middle blessings also varies.
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