TALISMANS IN JAPAN

Evening Star, Issue 22817, 27 November 1937, Page 7

TALISMANS IN JAPAN

Talismans rank high. _ among the booming “ war” industries of Japan. There is always a brisk trade in charms, sometimes written on paper, sometimes engraved on wood at the more famous shrines and temples, although there is apt to be a slackening in the summer months. Ever since the outbreak of the fighting in China, however, there has been a marked increase in attendance at places of worship, and a corresponding increase in the sale of talismans,. which are supposed to protect the possessors against misfortune. The Meiji Shrine, sacred to the spirit of Japan’s famous Emperor, sold over 50,000 talismans during a recent month, as against a normal average of 15,000 to 16,000. hour priests of the shrine go through purification ceremonies every day,' and then set to work printing the characters by hand on wood blocks. The Yasukuni Shrine, devoted to the memory of Japanese who have fallen in battle, is now issuing some 30,000 charms a month, as against 5,000 in ordinary times. Most of the talismans are given to soldiers who depart for the front. , Another form of supposed protection is the writing of elaborate messages in classical Chinese on pieces of cloth, which are sent to officers and soldiers. All the members of one unit have received talismans in the shape of red loincloths stitched to an accompaniment of prayers by the women of their native tow*.