Japanese omamori good-luck charm pouches are here to protect your lips as stylish balm holders

Over 40 handcrafted designs to choose from, many made with thousand-year-old Fujiyama-ori tradition.

In Japan, shrines and temples sell small good-luck charms called omamori. With a distinctive, almost-rectangular hexagonal shape, the little sealed pouches are supposed to provide various benefits depending on the exact type, from keeping you in good health to helping you pass your school exams or even steering you towards finding your one true love.

Linguistically, omamori comes from the Japanese word mamoru, meaning “to protect,” and Tokyo-based health and beauty company Isshin Honpo has an omamori-inspired idea to help protect your lips.

Called Fukufuku Lip (fuku meaning “auspicious” or “lucky”), the omamori-sized and shaped pouches can be opened, and have just enough space inside to store a tube of lip balm. Not only are they fashionably cute, having a pouch to keep your balm in eliminates any worry of the cap coming off as the tube bounces around unprotected in your bag or pocket.

The majority of the pouches are made using a weaving technique called Fujiyama-ori, the traditions of which Yamanashi Prefecture craftsmen in the towns at the base of Mt. Fuji have been carrying on for over a thousand years.

Isshin Honpo has just added five new designs to the lineup, with some of the latest options being a leaping rabbit outlined against a full moon and a luxuriously stretching spotted cat. The compete collection has a dizzying array of patterns, though, with over 40 to choose from as of this moment.

While many of the designs use classical Japanese motifs, there are also some that go with more modern Japanese aesthetics, such as the ones with Hello Kitty and her Sanrio pals.

▼ The Mt. Fuji at night and one-eyed daruma omamori pouches are particularly cool and fun.

While just about any brand of lip balm should fit, each 1,100-yen (US$10) Fukufuku Lip comes bundled with a tube made with a dozen herbal and fruit extracts, including yuzu citrus and apricot.

Orders can be placed online here directly with Isshin Honpo, and if this has you thinking how else you could organize your life with omamori-style pouches, here’s an idea for your smartphone.

Source: Isshin Honpo via Japaaan
Top image: Isshin Honpo
Insert images: Isshin Honpo (1, 2)
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