title: Futomani
text: # Futomani
  
  Futomani (太占) is a traditional Shinto system of divination. Practitioners attempt to foresee future events by interpreting the pattern of cracks made by heating the shoulder-blade of a stag. The practice is thought to predate the introduction of divination by tortoiseshell, which was imported from China; archaeological evidence suggests it originated as early as the Jōmon period.
  
  The kami most commonly associated with Futomani is Uraniwa-no-Kami (占庭の神, lit. "Divination Divinity"), also-known-as Futonorito-no-Mikoto (太祝詞の命, lit. "Thick Congratulatory Address [of] Life"), a special Kami of divination.
  
  Futomani is still practiced at the Shinto shrine on Mount Mitake as an annual event.
  
  In aikido, futomani is considered an important adjunct to kotodama practice.
  
  