Background/Story
These acorns are made by a fabric craft artist Kumiko Kitae of Miki, Japan, using kimono fabric and natural acorn caps.
Read a related button story about Kūkai, a Buddhist monk from the 8th century CE.
The Suma Temple, established in 1602 hosts a monthly open-air market which is a local tradition. On this day in April 2022, vendor stalls were sparse under a grey sky with a threat of rain.
During our stroll in the market, my mother received a Shingon blessing from a Buddhist nun in exchange for our modest street offerings. Her chanting voice reminded my mother of the days during the WWII civilian evacuation. She and her siblings and cousins were sent away from her parents, out of big cities like Kobe and Osaka, to stay with her distant relatives in the safety of the rural farming community in Shikoku until the war ended in August of 1945. While receiving the blessing, a childhood sensation of hearing the Buddhist chanting of devout neighbors vividly came back to her. The neighbors were a childless couple, who extended special attention to the 11-year-old girl from the city. The Shingon nun then shared with us that during her chanting, her late mother visited her. Her mother was a Christian, and so is my mother. We had pleasant chitchat to find that both mothers were born in the same year of rooster (year 8 of the Showa emperor, or 1933).
– Mika
Visit the photo gallery of the Koyasan-University (Shingon School)