葛原岡神社のお守り A Shuttlecock from Kuzuharaoka Shrine

When I started photographing my Kamakura series, this was the first charm I picked up. Leave it to me to choose one of the more obscure charms. I couldn't remember the name of the shrine I found it at. I could dimly picture the front of the shrine in my head. I couldn't read the name of the shrine on the little coin attached to the charm, and even after consulting every major shrine and temple tourist list in Kamakura, no options popped up that could possibly by a reading of the characters on the tag. Then, finally after plugging in a few characters that I DID know, a random Japanese flickr account had photos and the name written alphabetically: Kuzuharaokajinja. Or Kuzuharaoka Shrine.

I remember Kuzuharaoka Shrine because of a nice little travel memory. After completing the exhausting Daibutsu Hiking course, I reached a stream of temples and shrines, all of which I visited. Most of the time you shuffle through a complex and look at the little curiosities that the old site has to offer, and that's it.

I remember walking down a road where many elderly Japanese had gathered, perhaps a tourist group, to do the hiking course from my end point to the other side. Mostly everyone was prepping their water bottles (I was envious of their clean tennis shoes) and I sniggered at them because the hiking course was a long, muddy mess and they obviously had no idea what there were in for. It was also noon by then, and Kamakura was starting to heat up. Muggy, muddy, and humid. As I rested on a park bench, I noticed an old man sitting in front of a shrine with a collection of charms and I got up to go and talk with him.

I was interested in the charms, and he seemed happy to talk with me and put up with my Japanese. He eagerly explained that the black shuttlecock form was unusual. This charm with a black body had an assortment of little colorful bells hanging from the body. To most Americans who don't know much about badminton (that sport like tennis with a volleyball net) the shuttle cock is the little feathered ball that the players knock back and forth. He also explained that the name for the form, mukurokuji, is a play on the word black (kuro), and the traditional omamori form name. I then bought one and put it in my bookbag.

After my adventure rediscovering the shrine's name, as well as the memory from that table in front of the shrine, I will not forget Kuzuharaoka Shrine. Especially as a collector.

Anyone traveling to Kamakura and interested in charms should make a point to visit and purchase the black shuttlecock mukurokuji.