Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto is one of Japan’s most famous temples and a must-see sightseeing spot for anyone visiting the country. The temple has become a cultural symbol - the Japanese equivalent phrase for ‘take the plunge’ is ‘jump off Kiyomizu’s veranda’ in reference to an old adage that said if you survived the fall, your wish would be granted. Kiyomizu was founded in 798 – but that hasn’t stopped them from taking the plunge into the 21st century and embracing FP codes which I talked about in this post.

When visiting a Japanese temple, it’s customary to have your fortune read – usually by picking a fortune scroll from a bunch of scrolls carrying various prophecies from utter disaster to happy times. A bit like a fortune cookie. From tomorrow, Kiyomizu is launching a mobile-read fortune scroll. Having a big ugly QR code on the fortune scroll would kind of spoil the design – so the temple has decided to opt to use FP codes for their mobile fortunetelling solution. The visitor selects a scroll with a fortune reading contained in a hidden FP code embedded in a picture and uses their mobile to display the hidden message contained.

When I visted Kiyomizu temple a couple of years back and had my fortune read, the fortune-teller took one look at it, put it quickly back and told me to pick another. Presumably FP technology will put a stop to such cheating monks.

Press release

# posted by Jan Kuczynski @ 10:22 am