In memory of needles

Today is harikuyou (針供養), or memorial day for needles. It doesn't seem to be a well-known holiday, as several folks that I've mentioned it to have never heard of it. It's a day for people to take their broken needles and put them in a block of tofu, then have a memorial service for them at the temple. It seems like it's a holiday for craftspeople, like tailors and seamstresses, who want to honor the service that their tools have given them.