Holiday lore: Yesterday was the Buddhist Needle Memorial. On this day, as part of the principle of endless compassion espoused by the Buddhist faith for all sentient and nonsentient beings, all the sewing needles that have been retired during the year are honored. That is, needles are brought to the shrine and pushed into a slab of tofu that rests on the second tier of a three-tiered altar.
Priests sing sutras to comfort the needles and heal their injured spirits.
