Wait, what are those scrub brushes doing on the shrine’s altar? These kame no tawashi – traditional turtle-shaped scrub brushes – are there to be borrowed if you’re suffering from a cold! Take one home, scrub the outside of your throat with it, buy another one just like it and return bother of them to the shrine. Does it work? Well, those all look pretty new to me, so somebody’s still doing it!
Jonelle Patrick writes about Japan 