The Festival of Cursed Objects

“A wise man keeps away from danger.”

My successive martial art masters taught me the heart of oriental wisdom and I believe I have been royal to his or her teachings through my life, at least until this day.

In the West, there is a proverb saying “Curiosity kills the cat”, which basically also tells you to keep away from the danger.

So we all know that it is the universal common sense to keep yourself away from any danger, especially unnecessary ones.

 Then, what am I and these people are doing here, standing on the que for an hour on the precious last day of the Golden Week holiday for ‘Cursed Object Festival’? What it amazed me is that there are dozens of people who were taking the same incomprehensive action as I was doing.

 Finally, I made my way into a sophisticated boutique hotel where the exhibition gallery was located under its basement floor.

To make this happen, I had to come back 3 hours after I picked up my numbered ticket at the hotel entrance, and buy a drink at the lunge to get a priority ticket.

 The gallery was unexpectedly small, but enough to display 25 cursed objects.

 My first encounter was ‘Charmy’, a brunette-haired girl doll. She was given to a fetish collector, because a number of residents of a nursery home in Shiga passed away after petted her dearly. She was giving me a hollowed look and I quickly looked away.

 The, there was a wooden cat figurine smiling at me. A description board explains “Its successive owners get ear diseases or injure their ears, as the cat’s both ears were damaged. In the worst case, people lost their lives.”

 I moved my head restlessly to avoid the eye contact with these objects. I realized there were people taking photos of Charmy and the wooden cat casually and cheerfully. Then I saw messages “Photo shooting is OK”, “Posting on SNS is welcome with #Cursed Object Festival” on their backdrop.

 I was stunned. Isn’t it a common sense to prohibit photo shooting of art works? Moreover, isn’t it the taboo to take any occult item because it might turn out to be a spirit photography?

 I saw a young couple approached to a chic man in his 30’s, to take a photo together. “I am always watching your YouTube streaming, I am excited to meet you”, a young sleek looking guy told the elder gentleman in excited voice.

 I realized the gentleman was Mr. Yasuhiro Hayase, one of the two providers of the exhibits in this hall, a well-known collector of cursed objects around the World.

 They certainly both look cool and energetic, but both experienced severe disorders after they bought their collections.

 I realized I was more drawn to observe the people in the gallery, than appreciating rare cursed objects. I thought I was eccentric to come here, but the place was crowded with people who cherish or voluntarily live with these vicious objects.

 Do they really believe in curse in Reiwa era? If they do, what do they think the power behind it? Isn’t it easier and faster to turn to the science than relying on the magic. If they believe in demons and evil spirits, do they equally believe in the God and holy spirits?

 These questions made me realize that curse and blessing are ultimately two sides of a coin. This is why they called it a “festival”, because one man’s curse is another man’s prayer. They are both someone’s wish.

 Some displayed objects are made of weird materials, but offer blessings or protections to their owners.

 “Kapala” is a skull-shaped turquoise blue cup. It is actually made with a skull of hierarchal Tibetan monk and resin. If you put blood in the cup, this ritual implement shall lead you to the same meditative status as the hierarchal.

 Another Tibetan Buddhism implement is a flute made of a sinner’s thighbone. It is believed that a remaining conscience of the criminal will give you a good heart.

 Indonesian shaman wear shark’s tooth knuckles to protect themselves.

 It seems curse comes from nowhere without any reason. Charmy, the cat ornament and other cursed objects bring misfortune to people with neither any reason nor specific target. They just turn out to be cursing at some point, but no one knows why. Although some cursed items have their own stories behind, their curses continue to affect people around them forever.

 On the other hand, those implements with positive powers had to be made with clear intensions, and their holders need to pray or practice rituals constantly to invoke their powers. They require good cares.

 The curse (unhappiness) is naturally effortless, but the blessing (happiness) is not. Isn’t it so ironic and teaches us about the truth of life?