Nov 26, 2019
After each ceremony children receive two things while at a shrine: Chitose Ame and Okamori. Chitose Ame, or the thousand-year candy, are long and thin pieces of red and white candy. They represent good wishes and prayers for the child’s safety and prosperity. The number of Chitose Ame that they are given correlates directly to their age. If a three-year-old is participating in Kamioki, they get three pieces, and if a five-year-old is going through Hakama-no-gi then they get five pieces, and the same pattern follows for Obitoki-no-gi. The Chitose Ame are given to the kids in Okamori which are colorful bags ornately decorated with images of turtles or cranes. Both of which are animals that symbolize long life in Japanese culture.