Omikuji are random fortunes written on strips of paper at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Japan.
When the prediction is bad, it is a custom to fold up the strip of paper and attach it to a pine tree in the temple grounds. A purported reason for this custom is a pun on the word for pine tree (松 matsu) and the verb 'to wait' (待つ matsu), the idea being that the bad luck will wait by the tree rather than attach itself to the bearer. In the event of the fortune being good, the bearer should keep it.
Camera: Pentax *ist DS, lens: Sigma 18-50mm - 1:3.5-5.6 DC
