Japan Hand Painted Special Somin Shorai Worship Wooden Amulet Charm

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Japan Hand Painted Special Somin Shorai Worship Wooden Amulet Charm IMPORTANT NOTES Scroll down the page to see more photos of this item. Please know that items purchased from us will be shipped direct from California. Your item will arrive much sooner and the shipping cost will be far less than items being shipped direct from Japan. Take advantage of our combined shipping to save even more! DETAILS OF ITEM This piece measures 5.5 inches tall and about 2 inches across at the bottom. This is a wooden hexagonal shaped amulet charm folk toy based on popular folk belief called Somin Shorai worship. Made from a type of willow tree, it is an amulet for the prayer for good luck and especially for good health and epidemic prevention. Somin Shorai worship has a very long history: The Japan's oldest amulet dated more than 1,200 years old was excavated in Kyoto and it was a Somin Shorai charm. The Bingo Fudoki is an ancient document denoting the Bingo (present day Hiroshima) region's history, culture and folklore. According to this document, Susano-O-no-Mikoto, the brother of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu, was traveling disguised as an old beggar in the Bingo area and needed a place to stay for the night. Kotan Shorai, a man of great wealth in the region refused to give him lodging but his elder brother, Somin Shorai was happy to welcome Susano-O for a night's lodging even though he was very poor. The next day when Susano-O was about to leave, he told Somin to make a small ring with congongrass (Imperata cylindrica) and wear it around the waist that would bring them great luck and protection and would prevent Somin and his family from getting sick during great epidemics. The Somin family and his descendants have placed a wooden signboard at the gate that reads "We are Somin Shorai's descendants" and they have always been spared from getting any epidemics. Based on this legend, a wooden amulet was made with the prayer writing in red and black that reads, "we are the descendants of Somin Shorai, Good luck and Great wealth." Smaller amulets are often used as a charm for children to wear and the larger ones are often offered at the Shinto Altar. The use of willow tree came from ancient Chinese Taoist concept that this tree has talismanic and medicinal qualities. Somin Shorai worship was born from the blending of Chinese Taoism and ancient Japanese Shintoism. This is a unique folk piece having both the elements of a folk toy and a talismanic religious element as well. Though Somin Shorai worship had spread to many parts of Japan, the Somin Shorai amulets sold at Kokubunji temple in Nagano Prefecture is especially well-known for having over 500 years of tradition. There are two types of Somin Shorai amulets that are sold at the Kokubunji temple market on January 7th and 8th annually: the regular temple charm and so called E-somin (painted) like this particular piece. The temple Somin Shorai amulets are decorated with all letters and symbols. They are hand made by nearby farmers after the rice harvest and the blank amulets are brought to the temple where they are decorated by the temple staff and they go through special prayers to be sold as temple charms. These Somin Shorai amulets are only sold on January 7th of each year. The families of parishioners who have been residing in this area since the Edo period (1603-1867) make special E-somin pieces. These families form an association called the Somin-Ko and each family has its own unique design. They make their own blank pieces first and paint them with images of good luck motifs such as treasure ships, Daruma and lucky Gods like this particular piece. They are all hand made and considered highly collectible folk toys. These families sell their own E-somin pieces on the morning of January 8th at the market. Compared to the sheer volume of Somin Shorai amulets that temple makes and sells, these E-somin pieces are very time consuming to make and the numbers are limited. Although people begin to line up early mo... read more

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