I tried amulet-making! |「海陽でやってみた！」御守りづくり体験編
こんにちは！トニーだよー。
阿波海南文化村では藍染めによる「御守り染め」という新しい体験があると聞いたので、今回はそれを体験しながら紹介するよ！
Hey there, Tony here.
Did you hear that there’s a new indigo omamori (amulet) dyeing experience that you can try now at the Awa Kainan Cultural Center? I had the opportunity to try it earlier in May, so read along to find out how it went!
見て！御守りを色んな模様に染めることができるよ！しかも季節によっては染められる色が違うらしい。多くの人が知っているのは藍染だと思うけど、寒い時期になると、茜染に変わるよ！
Wow, look at the different types of patterns you can dye the omamori in! I’ve heard you can dye the amulets in indigo blue or akane (madder) red depending on the season!
御守り袋の染め方は普通の藍染と同じだけど、通常染めるもの（ハンカチやTシャツ等）よりも小さいので、どんな模様でもいいというわけではないよね。自分はグラデーションとザル模様を合わせて挑戦してみた！うまくできるかなー？
The first step involves dyeing the pouch. The standard dyeing process is used here, but the amulet pouch is much smaller than what you would normally dye, so not every pattern works! For my amulet, I tried something different by combining the zaru pattern with a gradient!
染め上がった御守り袋の形を整えるには何と、厚紙を使うんだ。袋の中に厚紙を差し込んで、厚紙の上部に沿って手際よく台形型に折る。折ったままアイロンをかけることで御守りの形が出来上がり。次に、お札に願い事を書いていくよ。願い事が叶うといいよね！
After dyeing the pouch, a cardboard guide is inserted to create the fold lines that are ironed to shape the amulet pouch. It was a bit fiddly, but with a bit of work we managed to get there!
御守り袋にお札を入れ、目打ちで御守りの上部に2つの穴を開けたら、紐を裏側まで通して結んでいくと完成だ。
Next, we wrote our wishes on a polished tablet of timber and placed it inside the amulet. You can choose to use a white or pink cord, which is passed through two holes punched into the top of the amulet, and is then tied into a knot to seal the amulet.
自分が作った御守りはこんな感じ！グラデーションは思ったよりはっきり出来ていないけど、ザル模様はいい感じに仕上がったよ。
This is what mine turned out like, pretty cool right? The gradient wasn’t as pronounced as I would’ve liked, but the zaru pattern worked out great!
最後に、近くの大里八幡神社でご祈祷を頂き、御守りがより本格的で特別に感じたよ。
For the final step, we had the amulets consecrated by the local priest at the nearby Hachiman shrine in Ozato in a ceremony, which definitely gave it a very authentic and special feeling.
このような伝統的な儀式を日常で体験できる機会は滅多にないので、おすすめするよ！ぜひ阿波海南文化村で「御守り染め」を体験して、自分や大切な人へのプレゼントにしてみてはどうかな？
Going to the shrine and having the amulets consecrated is optional, but I highly recommend it since it’s not every day that you get to taste a real traditional Japanese ceremony! So, if you would like to try making your own “real” amulet for someone or yourself, come along and try this experience at the Awa Kainan Cultural Center!
実はこの日には色んな撮影が行われていたよ！テレビの放送などを見た人はいるかなー？
興味のある方はぜひ、観光局「四国の右下」が撮影したプロモーション動画も見てねー！
If you noticed in some of the photos, there was filming happening in the background on this day.
You can also check out a promotional video that tourism agency Shikoku no Migishita filmed with us in it!