About the Omamori Project

I have been studying Japanese for almost eight years now. Before coming to USC, I had travelled to Japan, four times, once with my family and three times on exchange programs. But my study abroad experiences during my undergraduate study changed the way I viewed Japan, and it transformed the way I see the world, specifically the religions of other cultures. 

 I participated in two study abroad programs while at USC: Global East Asia and Nanzan University’s Center for Japanese Studies. During the Global East Asia Japan program, myself and ten other students attended lecture at Meiji University in Tokyo with Professor Saori Katada, studying business and international relations while getting a crash course on Japanese culture. The following summer I interned at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C., and then during the Spring 2013 semester I studied abroad in Nagoya. I attended classes at Nanzan University, hoping to improve my Japanese, and I lived with a host family. While both programs were wonderful, but it was what I saw outside the classroom that left the deepest impression. 

For the first time in my life, I seriously considered the religion of the Japanese people and how Shintoism, the native religion, and Buddhism were evolving — or not — in the twenty-first century. In previous travels, I had started collecting Japanese religious charms and talismans, called omamori, but omamori became a structure for visiting all kinds of religious sites and seeing how they functioned. Between lectures, I would explore Tokyo, trying to find different sites and see what functions they served to their communities. Smaller shrines dedicated to lesser known deities, called kami, were local fixtures in communities that served as basic places of prayer. The smallest shrines would have no attendants or priests, but neighboring households would sweep and look after it. Slightly larger shrines would sell omamori to help keep the shrine in shape for worshippers. As I visited more and more shrines all over Japan, I realized that omamori were constant and crucial sources of revenue for shrines large and small. 

The Japanese are not a religious people. Newspaper surveys have shown that many Japanese identify as both Shinto and Buddhist, or they admit to even having Christian funerals. Yet a large percentage of Japanese claim to not be religious or even believe in deities. But shrines and temples also serve as local cultural and historical foundations. In order to survive in a changing religious landscape, omamori and festivals have become crucial fundraisers. Creative omamori designs are featured in guidebooks alongside the tasty dishes in a district. Temples have adopted mascots and emphasize elements of their history through omamori. 

Every time I have visited a temple or shrine, I have purchased an omamori, if possible, and taken photographs of the site. I have been recording and organizing this collection for almost three years online because I believe that it is important to engage others in discussions about religion, even if one is not a member of the religious tradition. My blog, The Omamori Project, features over fifty entries and hundreds of photographs. I am still uploading and categorizing an omamori collection with over one hundred pieces. Part travelogue, part informal history and religion overview, my blog has been visited over five thousand times by viewers in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Omamori are a useful and memorable tool, a new way of viewing worship, tourism, and the evolution of religion.