Make a wish, seek wealth, and ace your exams—Japanese people rely on these tricks to pray for good luck

Text and photos / Excerpted from "Illustrated Guide to Japanese Customs," supervised by Shoji Niiya, published by Hodoku Publishing

Daruma Doll だるま
A mascot originating from a real person
There are various theories about the origin of the daruma doll. Some say it was introduced from China to temples in Nagasaki, while others claim it was adapted from a toy called "tobikake koboshi." The daruma doll already existed during the Edo period, but it later evolved by taking inspiration from the real-life "Bodhidharma," rapidly gaining widespread popularity.

Bodhidharma was originally an Indian prince who later became a monk and went to the Shaolin Temple on Mount Song in China to meditate facing a wall for nine years straight. Because the shape of the daruma doll resembles Bodhidharma’s seated meditation posture, it is also known as the "Daruma Daruma." When pushed over, the daruma quickly stands back up, which is why the Japanese believe it symbolizes "rising after every fall, untoppable even after a hundred pushes," using it as a mascot for business prosperity sold during festivals.

Modern daruma dolls are mostly made of paper with the eyes left blank. Typically, when you buy a daruma and take it home, you paint one eye black when making a wish, and once the wish comes true, you paint the other eye. However, some daruma dolls sold by shops nowadays already have both eyes painted black when you buy them.

Wish wooden plaque }u Horse
In ancient times, people offered live horses to the gods
At shrines across Japan, it's common to see students offering ema (wish wooden plaques) and praying to pass their exams. This custom is said to originate from the ancient practice of offering live horses to the deities as a form of ritual gratitude.

But offering live horses was a significant economic burden for ordinary people, and it was also troublesome for shrines to care for so many horses. As a result, the offerings were later changed to clay or wooden horse figurines, eventually simplifying further into wooden plaques painted with images of horses.

Ema has a long history, dating back to the Nara period. Later, during the Heian period, people also offered ema when praying for communal benefits such as rain. Eventually, it evolved into the wish plaques we use today for personal wishes. During the Edo period, mathematicians would write down difficult problems on ema and hang them at shrines. Once someone solved the problem, they would write the answer on another ema and hang it up at the shrine, so ema also once served as a method for advancing mathematics.

Maneki-neko 招き猫 (Lucky Cat)
Different hands invite different kinds of good fortune
Lucky cats are often displayed at the entrances of shops. Generally, a cat raising its right paw invites wealth, while raising its left paw beckons customers. A cat with a high-raised paw attracts great fortune from afar, while one with a lower-raised paw brings small happiness close by.

Regarding the origin of the maneki-neko, there is an anecdote related to Gōtoku-ji Temple. It is said that during the Edo period, Ii Naotaka, the lord of the Hikone Domain, once arrived at Gōtoku-ji and saw a white cat raising its right paw to beckon him. He then walked through the temple gate. Just as he entered the temple grounds, a lightning bolt struck the gate. Because the white cat helped Ii Naotaka avoid disaster, Gōtoku-ji still enshrines this cat as the "Cat Goddess of Mercy." Another legend tells of an elderly woman who started selling maneki-neko in Asakusa after dreaming about her old cat, resulting in booming business. There are indeed many interesting legends about the maneki-neko.

Some maneki-neko sold specifically to foreigners have their palms facing backward. This is because the gesture for beckoning is the opposite between the West and Japan.

Hyakudai-mairi 百度詣 (100 Visits Prayer)
A simplified version of the 100-day prayer ritual
Hyakudai-mairi is an ancient prayer method where one travels between the temple gate, worship hall, and main hall 100 times in a single day, making a wish each time. Some people performing hyakudai-mairi worry about losing track of how many visits they’ve completed, so they place a small stone after each wish as a tally. Once the wish is fulfilled, one returns to the temple to offer gifts in gratitude to the deity. Hyakudai-mairi is a simplified version of "hyakunichi-mairi" (100-day prayer), where prayers were offered daily to the gods or buddhas over 100 days. It is also a method designed for those urgently seeking immediate wish fulfillment.

Few people do this nowadays, but in the past, people often performed hyakudai-mairi to pray for recovery from illness, safe childbirth, or the safety of soldiers going to war. Similar prayer practices include "hyakusha-mairi" (100 shrine visits), where worshippers visit 100 shrines dedicated to the same deity to make wishes—for example, praying at 100 shrines of Inari, the fox god.