Broken Needles

Posted on 20. Apr, 2007 @ 2:25 pm by in Language Views: 179

「針供養」(はりくよう)

needle mass // requiem service for broken needles

Say what?

I’m not making this up.

- Harvey

  • Michael

    Yep. Tailors and seamstresses, or just anyone who does much sewing, can take their old and broken needles to a temple once a year, stick them in box full of tofu, a priest performs a service for the needles and blesses the people, and the box will be buried in the earth.
    —-
    In other words, if you’re digging for treasure somewhere in Japan and your shovel hits a box, don’t get too excited. ^_^

  • http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

    I randomly asked a Japanese teacher about this, by saying, “hey I was thinking about going to a 針供養 with my friend here.” and she was like, “oh wow really? when where?” As if she knew exactly what it was… She did.

    I asked her about it, told her I was joking, and she explained it all to me… Just like you did Michael.

    She also said there were other types of unofficial 供養 for other types of tools.

    I want to experience one of these services and get pictures!

    They should have a 古いパソコン供養。

  • http://ikimashokie.blogspot.com/ Jess

    Oh my.

    Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in memory of these needles…

  • Clive

    If that’s what they do for needles, what do they do with pyrotechnic washlets?

JapanNewbie
    Twitter Feed

Welcome to JapanNewbie.com! My goal is to get you excited about Japan and the Japanese language. Love it! This blog has been around for more than five years now, so be sure to dig into the archives and use the search. You never know what you might find!

Recent Comments:




  • Photos on flickr