The Skull Rosary

My ojiichan (grandfather) told me this story when he saw that I was intrigued by one of his ojuzu (Buddhist rosary).

During the days following the attack on pearl Harbor and the arrests of Japanese living in Hawaii, American soldiers routinely pillaged Buddhist temples for exotic artifacts. One of the stolen items was a rosary made up of tiny skulls carved out of ivory. It was probably a gruesome yet fascinating find for a young soldier. When I asked Ojiichan how he ended up with it, he said that the soldier returned it to his temple, saying the rosary was cursed and had given him bad luck. Ojiichan blessed the rosary and tucked it away. Cursed or not, I'm sure the soldier's guilty conscience had something to do with returning the rosary to its rightful place.

Marice S., Bank Executive