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Phone accessories come embroidered with declarations of protection against online flaming and low batteries.

With their power to guide and inform us, some would say that a smartphone is practically the technological equivalent of a guardian deity. As such, don’t they deserve to be placed in a cover with similar borderline divinity?

Novelty item maker Kitan Club would say so. Following up on its smartphone futons (in both traditional Japanese and adorable Pikachu patterns), the company is about to release a line of smartphone pouches styled like omamori, the protective amulets sold at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples across Japan. While omamori are typically around the length of an adult’s pinkie, Kitan Club’s are 150 millimeters (5.9 inches) long and 80 millimeters (3.1 inches) wide. Instead of being sewn shut at the top, you can loosen the cords and slip your phone in for safekeeping when it’s not in use.

Orthodox versions of the amulets are bought by those seeking good luck in health, romance, business, or academics, but the embroidered kanji characters on Kitan Club’s smartphone omamori announce a different set of specialized purposes.

▼ Protection against bad reception (left) and protection against screen cracks (right)

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▼ Two of the more useful omamori: protection against online flame wars and protection against running out of battery charge

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▼ And finally, protection against people not noticing your messages in their inbox/ignoring them, and protection against people peeking at your screen

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All six designs go on sale June 10 in gachapon capsule toy vending machines nationwide, priced at 300 yen (US$2.70). We should mention that Kitan Club’s omamori are not actually blessed by Shinto priests or Buddhist monks, so they may or may not provide any actual benefits…except, of course, for looking very cool.

Following Casey on Twitter bestows no blessings but, on the upside, evokes no curses either!

Source: Kitan Club via IT Media
Top image: Gachapon Joho (edited by RocketNews24)
Insert images: Kitan Club (edited by RocketNews24)