On February 8^th, we celebrate Hari-Kuyo. In Japan, those who use needles for work or pleasure make an annual visit to either a Shinto shrine or a Buddhist temple to honour their broken needles, laying them to rest with reverence. From a Western perspective, it might seem strange to hold a religious ceremony for objects rather than for the deceased, but if you’re familiar with the KonMari decluttering method, you’ll understand the sentiment – it’s a chance to say goodbye and thanks.

Back home, I would visit a Shinto shrine, bringing along my old and broken needles and pins to pierce them into a piece of Konnyaku – a jelly-like food made from Konnyaku potatoes. But living in the UK means I cannot partake in that tradition. Instead, my ceremony is simple: I use a piece of tofu (since it’s easier to find in supermarkets) and gather some broken needles and pins from my ‘sharp’ pot. As I pierce them into the tofu, I bid farewell and give thanks to each broken needle. It’s also a time to pray for improvement in my skills in the year ahead.

I rarely break my needles and make an effort to prevent them from rusting. I even keep bent ones. However, this past year, I used a lot of curved needles, and if any of them broke, they found their way into my ‘sharp’ pot.

Here’s a photo of my Hari-Kuyo.

So that’s how I showed my gratitude to my broken needles this year. After a brief prayer, do you know what I did? I buried the tofu (with the broken needles!) at the bottom of my garden. To complete the ceremony, I sprinkled a pinch of salt – a Japanese ritual for purifying the space.