The Fortune Slip Japan Ties to a Tree When the News Is Bad

Updated October 15, 2026 | By Tokyo Paul

An omikuji is a small strip of paper that tells your fortune, and you can pick one up at almost any Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple in Japan. Make a small offering, usually just a few coins, then draw a numbered stick from a box or shake a tube until one slides out, and trade that number for your matching paper slip.

Unfold the slip and you get a written fortune covering everything from general luck to health, love, business, and travel. The wording is often old fashioned and a little poetic, which is part of the fun even for visitors who need a translation to understand what it says.

The format has roots that go back further than most visitors realize. The standard set of a hundred verses used at many shrines and temples today is traditionally attributed to Ryogen, a tenth century Tendai monk better known posthumously as Ganzan Daishi. A monk named Tenkai, who lived into the Edo period, is credited with attaching Ryogen's name to the sequence, which helped it become popular, and that is largely why similar wording still turns up at shrines across the country centuries later.

Fortunes come ranked from best to worst, usually starting at great blessing and stepping down through blessing, small blessing, and half blessing before reaching the less welcome ranks like future blessing and plain misfortune. Pulling the top rank feels like a genuinely good omen, while landing near the bottom is treated as a nudge rather than a verdict.

When the news is bad, there is a simple fix. Visitors fold the slip and tie it to a pine tree or a wire rack set up on the shrine grounds for exactly this purpose. A popular explanation leans on a pun: the word for pine tree, matsu, sounds like the verb that means to wait. Tying the bad fortune to the tree is a way of asking the bad luck to wait there instead of following you home.

A good fortune does not have to be tied up at all. Plenty of people pocket a great blessing and carry it as a bit of luck, while others tie even the good ones to the rack anyway, hoping to strengthen the effect. Shrines popular with tourists have started offering omikuji in English and other languages, so visitors do not have to guess at what they just paid for.

Not every shrine follows the standard format. Meiji Jingu in Tokyo draws its oracles from waka poems written by Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, and it offers English translations alongside the original verses. The point of an omikuji was never really the rank, it was always the message underneath it, and a small, hopeful pause built right into a shrine visit is a lovely way to ask what is coming next and trust that whatever it is, you will be fine.

How Drawing An Omikuji Works

According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, omikuji has roughly 1,000 years of history and began as a way of seeking divine guidance on matters such as government decisions or choosing a successor. Today it covers personal fortunes, including health, work, love, business, study, and travel. The fee is usually about 100 to 200 yen, though it can vary by shrine and temple.

Most places have you shake a box of numbered sticks and take the slip matching the stick that falls out. Some places use other methods, such as vending machines, mascot shaped holders, or a mechanical lion at Nishiki Tenmangu in Kyoto, and at some shrines a shrine maiden hands you the slip directly. The JNTO article also points out that each slip explains your fortune and includes advice on how to improve it, even when the result is not the best.

The Ranks Explained

Wikipedia lists the usual order from best to worst as dai kichi, kichi, sho kichi, han kichi, sue kichi, sue sho kichi, and kyo, which are great blessing, blessing, small blessing, half blessing, future blessing, future small blessing, and misfortune. Other shrines may use slightly different sequences. The JNTO article gives a shorter ladder of great luck, general luck, middle luck, small luck, and bad luck, which shows that the ranking can differ from place to place.

Wikipedia also notes that traditional slips cover many topics, including wishes, a person being awaited, lost items, travel, business, studies, romance, moving, childbirth, illness, and marriage proposals. That is a surprisingly complete guide to life packed onto one little strip of paper.

Tying Your Slip

Both sources describe the same graceful custom. Bad fortunes are folded and tied to a designated spot on the grounds, often a pine tree or a wire wall, and the exact place varies by shrine or temple, so look for the signs or ask a staff member. Good fortunes are usually kept for luck, though Wikipedia notes that some people tie good ones up too for a stronger effect.

If you are unsure what to do, follow what other visitors are doing and keep the area tidy. A shrine visit is meant to be peaceful, and the tying racks are a shared, friendly corner of the grounds.

Omikuji In Your Own Language

One of the nicest changes in recent years is how easy it has become to read your fortune. JNTO lists examples of places with translated omikuji, including Senso-ji in Tokyo, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu in Kanagawa Prefecture, and Nishiki Tenmangu in Kyoto in English, Narita-san Shinsho-ji in Chiba Prefecture in English, Chinese, and Korean, and Kushida-jinja in Fukuoka Prefecture in several languages. Availability can change, so it is worth checking when you arrive.

The Meiji Jingu website lists its oracles at 100 yen with English translations, and notes that thirty poems were selected from the many that the Emperor and Empress wrote. The shrine says the messages are based on traditional Shinto ethics, which gives them a thoughtful, uplifting character.

A Gentle Way To Think About Luck

The best way to enjoy omikuji is as a moment of reflection rather than a prediction. Even a rank that looks disappointing comes with advice, and tying it to a tree is a symbolic way of leaving worries behind. Many visitors enjoy comparing slips with friends, reading the poetic wording aloud, and treating the whole experience as a small cultural keepsake from a shrine visit.