Amidakuji // All About

In a few days time, maybe as long as a week, I will be taking over the amidakuji contest from @boxcarblue. It's basically a lottery. Pick a number and maybe win. Simple. But there is a lot behind it and I thought we'd take a few minutes to look at that.

Amidakuji

Every time I talk to my folks and listen as they try to pronounce Japanese words, I am reminded that the pronunciation rules differ from English enough to confuse a lot of people. So to begin with, it is pronounced Ah-me-dah-coo-jee.

It means Amida's lottery. Amida is the cosmic Buddha in Mahayana Buddhism, and the main guy in Pure Land Buddhism, which is one of the most popular sects in Japan.

Often the title is changed into English, however, as Ghost Leg.

How to Play

The game board itself may look confusing at first, but the rules are actually very simple. Rather than try to describe it, here is an excellent few images from Wikipedia showing how it works.

In Japan

The game is super popular in Japan, and is very likely to be used in a number of different situations. For example, offices may use it to assign jobs. I've seen this use in action many times. There is always a 1:1 correspondence between the top and bottom numbers, so no job will be assigned twice. Employees may be asked to draw in some lines between the columns, making the game seem even more random.

Try it yourself

If you want to try it out yourself to get more of a feel for the game, there is a slick version playable on the web here. Go give it a shot!

Pick the first option (HTML version). It's not quite the same as the party game, but it may give you an idea.

@jrvacation has also been running a contest with the game. They include a video of their results, which may also give you a better idea of how it works. See the latest one.

Coming Soon

If you want to play my version of it, keep watching the space. Within the next few days I will post my first Amidakuji. There will be at least two spiffy prizes! At least for the first very lotteries I will just copy @boxcarblue's format. But I may alter it from there.

Anyway—Coming soon to a blog post near you!

	David LaSpina is an American photographer lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time. More?