お数珠 (ojuzu)

So when I went to Japan about a year ago, I picked up some juzu beads at one of the temples I visited. I've worn them ever since, and now that the elastic is kind of going, I thought I would look up more specifics for possibly making a set of my own. So, I did a little bit of research.

The first thing I found out is that the version I have is actually fairly small. A basic strand has 108 beads, while mine has 31 (27 small beads in a light green color, 2 small clear beads, 1 large bead with a buddha image inside, and 1 bead on top). The beads are supposed to represent the number of worldly desires that must be subdued, and usually they're used to count prayers.

Most of the other facts I found out are a little hard for me to explain, but a Google search should be sufficient. (Wiki doesn't comeup with anything of any use).