Photo: Hahifuheho · CC0
Shikichi Shrine, known to every Kyoto family as Wara Tenjin, gives a safe-childbirth amulet containing a stalk of rice straw. By tradition a knot in the straw means a boy and none a girl; the straw is where the nickname comes from.
Why it's unique
It is a local rite of passage rather than a sight: a resident blogger calls it the first name any Kyoto person gives for safe birth, and the straw amulet and its boy-or-girl tradition are specific to this shrine.
The researcher flagged this as a close call and noted a reviewer may prefer notable, so confidence is low.
Before you go
Mostly pregnant Kyoto residents come here. Families come back at nine months and nine days (「苦を越える」). The paper wrapping is tough and the shrine office says the amulet is not really meant to be opened: people who want the "test" open it after the birth. The amulet comes as a blessed set (about ¥4,000 with no belly band in recent reports).
Open 8:30 to 17:00, free entry. Bus 204 or 205 to Wara-Tenjin-mae. No official site was found.
