Where unwanted fortunes go

Old town Tokyo, with narrow winding streets lined with tiny little shops. That is Asakusa - also home to Tokyo's oldest temple, the Sensoki Temple. To get there, you must go though Nakamise Dori, the "inside shop street" and past an area where you can buy a fortune.

I did of course.

I put 100 yen in a box and picked up a round cylinder filled with wooden sticks. You are supposed to shake it upside down until a long stick falls out. My stick fell out immediately, like it was waiting for me to show up. There is writing on the stick and I had to match that up with the same writing on one of the many drawers in front of me. I found the drawer right away and pulled my fortune out. Of course, it was written in Japanese, but there was one section on the back in English. There were several sentences, some making more sense than others. There was one though, that stopped me in my tracks.

"The person you wait for will come but late".

For those of you who know me, you know the tears started to flow, right in the middle of this wide path leading to the temple. Yes, I know this. She is late, very late. And, I want her now.

We continued walking and came upon a wooden frame lined with wires. There were several fortunes that had been folded up and tied to the wires, for this is where you put the fortunes you don't like. My fortune is on the left.