Lucky Charms

Each New Year, charms called omamori are bought from shrines and temples across Japan. They are said to provide various forms of luck or protection to the person who carries them and come in all shapes, sizes and colours. The silk pockets contain a small prayer. You should never open the omamori as that would release the blessing and say 'sayonara' to all the good luck.

The ones bought the previous year are returned to the shrine so they can be burnt in a sacred fire. The picture shows just a few of those that have been returned this year.