Today Hari Kuyo, the Festival of Broken Needles, in the Kanto region of Japan. Women take time on this day to visit shrines and temples to give thanks to their needles for their year’s worth of service and also to pray for a defter hand in the coming year.
A Broken Needle ceremony at Awashima Shrine. (Image courtesy 豊瀬源一 via Wikimedia)
Women dress in their kimonos and take their needles and pins to a Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple to be carefully placed in a soft block of tofu. The needles have worked hard and they deserve to rest in a soft, gentle surface as thanks for all work and burdens they have carried. It is believed that the needles absorb the cares and sorrows of the needlewoman as she works, so they have more than earned their rest.
Hari Kuyo is a way to honour one of those small tools that we use every day but don’t really think about it. Needles may be an inanimate object, but they do bring so much pleasure to the lives of those of us who are lucky enough to stitch and sew for enjoyment. And, if your livelihood is made via your needles, they are even more important. So, if you have a chance, say thank you to your needles today.
Needleworker, Knitter, Crocheter, Sewist, Paper Crafter, and more!
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This is lovely, and considering that I stitch to save my sanity, my needles have been burdened with a lot of my cares and sorrows in the last year. I’m glad for a reminder to stop and appreciate that. Thank you for sharing this!
What a wonderful idea. That would be something special to experience.
What a fantastic effort
It’s a lovely thought, isn’t it.
This is a wonderful read. Thank you so much for sharing this. It made me really stop and reflect on so many things.
Wow, what a neat idea.
I really like this idea. I don’t know where my old needles go, they seem to evaporate!
How very, very interesting. Thank you for sharing this. I am a few days late, but I will definitely thank all my needles today.
what a sweet tradition, thank you for sharing
How interesting 🙂