Omikuji is the Japanese tradition of lottery based fortune telling for the new year! When visiting a shrine, you can get an omikuji, a fortune that is supposed to tell you what your luck for the year will look like. You draw a number and get a fortune, if it's bad you leave it behind! This program is great to leave out during January as a new years themed program.
Type: Self-directed
Age: High school
Optimal size: 20+
Estimated cost: Free
Planning time: <1 hour
Frequency: Monthly
Learning outcomes
My goal with this program was to educate participants about an aspect of Japanese culture and tradition though a unique passive program experience.
Instructions
Supplies
- Craft sticks x 7
- Omikuji fortunes (Publisher file provided)
- Colored printer paper, 7 different colors
- A bin to hold fortunes
- A closed container with a hole in the top to hold the craft sticks
- A place for participants to tie bad fortunes to (I braided yarn and hung it on a wall in our Teen Lounge)
- Instruction/educational sign (text provided)
Omikuji are basically broken down into two parts, the level of bad/good luck and what aspect of your life will be affected. I figured the easiest way to make this work would be to color code my fortunes. So I picked 7 different aspects and assigned them a color. Then I made a fortune sheet with 8 levels of luck ranging from good, neutral, and bad. This was the most time consuming part, but don't worry, I did it for you!
There are lots of different life aspects that can be on an omikuji, but I picked 7 that seemed most relevant to teens: Romantic relationships, a person being waited for, education, lost items, disputes, one's wish or desire, and travel. I designed and printed the fortune sheets on colored paper, a different color for each aspect. Then I cut them into strips and folded them up to later put into a bin.
I used a plastic tube that was used to hold cutlery as a base for my lottery container. You can use whatever you have, so long as it can completely hold the craft sticks. Make sure the top has a hole so participants can shake out a stick! I color coded the craft sticks to match the fortunes.
At a real shrine, shrinegoers would tie their bad fortunes to trees or in designated area at the shrine. So to recreate that I braided a length of yarn and hung it on the wall next to the rest of the display. Participants can fold up their bad fortunes and tie it around the yarn.
So once you have all of the materials prepared, set up is simple. Mix up the fortunes in a bin, then place the bin and lottery container in your teen area. Set up a place for them to leave their bad fortunes behind, whether that be my method or something of your choosing. I provided a set of instructions you can reference if you want to have a sign too.
Participation is also easy! Draw a colored stick, draw a fortune of matching color, read your fortune. Take good luck with you, leave bad luck behind!
Evaluation
The educational part is dependant on providing a sign that explains the tradition of omikuji, so it's imperative to have an educational sign along with the program display. Since the instructions were alongside the educational blurb, I believe participants left our Teen Lounge having learned something new! If I was in the Teen Lounge with patrons, I made sure to talk to them about the program was as well.
I think that the program was a success! I found fortunes hanging from the area provided, which was proof to me the kids were participating.
The only thing I would do differently is either explain how to properly tie the fortunes to the yarn, or provide a different option of disposing of bad fortunes. I left an example up on the yarn, but participants still just kinda hung them there without actually tying them. I ended up doing that part myself, so next time I'd leave clearer instructions on that part.
Other resources
Downloadable Files:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1kO4klsbbVityCVv8a4OVhCL64v9CS2om
References:
https://culturalxplorer.com/omikuji-fortune-japan/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O-mikuji