Feb. 4 – The Venetian Ursula Battaggia is a young student enrolled in the Master’s Degree in Languages and Cultures of Asia and Mediterranean Africa at the University Ca ‘ Foscari of Venice. In recent days, she wore a kimono and amulets to wish everyone “good luck”. Ursula took part in the Toka Ebisu Festival, a great traditional festival held annually in Osaka at the temple Ebisu. She was chosen from 3,000 girls to play as one of 50 “Daughters of Fortune” – or Fukumusume – participating in the event to ask for prosperity and luck in business endeavors. “Wearing the kimono and the eboshi was exciting – says the student – the foreign Fukumusume (ten this year) always arouse curiosity and a lot of people took a picture of us. But to attend such an event is priceless. It’s important to immerse oneself in the culture of the country one has chosen to study, and this event gave me the opportunity to do so fully.” Ursula had the opportunity to participate in the traditional Japanese festival thanks to the courses chosen at the Venetian university and an exchange with the university in Kyoto. Ursula took part in the three-day celebration along with the other “Daughters of Fortune,” who dressed in a traditional kimono and ceremonial headdress, called eboshi, to welcome visitors, wish them good luck, and selling traditional amulets hanging from the bamboo branch. More than 3000 applications arrive each year for the foreign Fukumusume, as it is a great honor to be chosen for such a role. The “Daughters of Fortune” were interviewed by the local and national televisions; they also visited companies to wish them prosperity in their activities. Interviewed by the examining committee at the temple of Ebisu, Ursula answered a number of questions testing her knowledge of the language. She also took part in the television program on the national network in Japan. During the three -day festival, there was the great influx of people who wanted to see and photograph the “Daughters of Fortune,” asking them to hang the amulets from the bamboo branches.
