Gudkova A. Japanese Written Predictions: Transformation of Tradition

A. Gudkova
Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Moscow, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0009-0000-9205-7677
E-mail: alex.v.gudkova@mail.ru

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ABSTRACT. With the advent of the digital age, electronic online divination has become popular in many countries worldwide. The article discusses specific features of the Japanese written fortune-telling tradition “o-mikuji” (Japanese for “divine lot”) in virtual space. The author offers an analysis of this digital divination practice, a detailed review of several divination sites, and translations of fortune-telling texts into Russian. In addition, the study includes a comparative analysis of the Japanese fortune-telling tradition and a Chinese Guanyin divination practice. Russian and foreign research on this topic has not been sufficient; there are few foreign works on this topic. The paper describes in detail the impact of virtualization and digitalization on divination traditions. The main objectives of this paper are to examine the Japanese fortunetelling practice and to identify similar patterns between several digital fortune-telling practices in the East. The paper is divided into four sub-sections: two of them are devoted to the translation and study of various electronic divinations; the remaining give a brief overview of the current situation of digital divination in China and Japan. The work draws on Japanese sources (websites of temples and shrines) and relevant recent studies by domestic and foreign religious scholars.

KEYWORDS: o-mikuji, divination, Shinto, Buddhism, cyber-religions 

DOI 10.31250/2618-8600-2024-1(23)-86-114
UDC 392(520)
 

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