New Year Tradition
January 06, 2005
Note: hover over the bolded kanji characters for English pronunciations
In Japan, ã?Šæ£æœˆ, the new year celebration is probably the most important time of the year. It dawned on me this year that I’ve spent 4 new year’s days in Japan already and have had a part in the food, holiday, and general light mood in everyone. In addition to this, I’ve went to the same temple with the woman’s family in true åˆ?è©£ fashion. åˆ?è©£ is the first visit to a temple in the new year to wish for luck for the rest of the year. The temple we’ve been to lies on the border of Osaka and Hyogo and it’s called, 妙見山. It’s about I would say a 1.5 hour drive from Osaka and it rests on top of a mountain. It has an excellent view but it’s usually too cloudy to see anything.
The first time I went there was in the early morning of New Year’s, 2000. We left pretty much around 2am. When we got there, it was already bustling with activity. There were quite a few people on their åˆ?è©£ run. However, being a temple in a fairly isolated, far away place, it was quiet by Japan standards. Sadly, in these five years since 2000, the place has become much more crowded. People have begun discovering this temple and flocking to it. This year, we waited about 45 minutes on the road leading up to the temple.
When you finally get there and park, you’ll see a big cemented path leading up a hill. On each side of the path are a bunch of food vendors. This is my favourite part of the whole åˆ?è©£. The vendors sell karaage chicken, hot dog wieners, sugared yams, takoyaki, okonomiyaki, drinks, and some toys for children. Each place charges roughly 300-500 yen so you can easily get your fill for 1000-2000 yen a person. In the freezing cold, you’ll really appreciate this. Usually we buy our food on the way back but it sure makes your mouth water as you walk up this pathway while kids are holding their delectables.
Once up the hill, you’ll notice a strange wooden building that’s sort of shaped like a star. I’ve never been inside but looking in, it looks to be some sort of astrological building. Around this building is where you get the best view from the mountain too.
Past this, you’ll step through a big wooden door. This door lies on the border of Hyogo and Osaka. I think I did the, “Now I’m in Osaka, now I’m in Hyogo, now I’m in Osaka” bit a couple times against the woman’s defiance. Past this door is your first chance at tradition. There’s a big metal bell to literally ring in the new year. I think standard temple rules apply here:
- Wait in line
- When it’s your turn, place a coin in the wooden box (I think 10 yen will suffice)
- Grab the rope attached to the wooden log hanging from the roof and use it to ring the bell. I think you’re only supposed to ring it once
- Clap your hands once and keep them together, bow your head down slightly, close your eyes, and then fantasize about beautiful women or make a wish
Here’s a video of me ringing the bell. Sorry, it’s nearly a 1mb download.
Once that’s done, walk down some stone steps and you’ll see the main temple area. A bunch of old wooden buildings with people bustling in and out making more prayers. You can spend a 100 yen and get your fortune told with 御神籤. My Chinese friends will know this. You grab a wooden can and shake it until a stick comes out. This stick will tell you a number. Someone will grab your piece of paper with you fortune on it using this number. Last year I got 下, which is the worst out of a possible 9 fortunes. When you get a fortune you don’t like, you can fold it and tie onto a nearby tree. This is where the pictures of paper filled trees come from. This year I got 上上å?‰, the third best - I kept it. The best fortune is 上上大å?‰. On the bottom of each fortune is a little message about what your year will bring. Mine said gold and silver or some stupid thing like that.
Another standard temple fare is a big giant urn with lots of incense burning. This smoke is supposed to be good for you so you’ll see mothers and girlfriends wofting this smoke onto their childrens’ and boyfriend’s faces, hands, body, and wherever they can get their hands on. Boyfriends in return will woft the smoke and smack playfully the girlfriends only to have the girlfriends smack them back violently.
One of my personal favourites is writing an 絵馬. These little wooden plates are for people to write down what they wish for. You hang these plates up and I guess some holy dude will come bless them and make them happen for you. I like reading what other people want (they’re all displayed in public). Usually you’ll see a lot of, “I want to pass my exams”, “I want to go to a good university”, “I want to join a good company” - you know, boring wishes. I saw one this year that stood out, “I want to be a TV actor. I want to appear on TV programs. I want to be famous”. That’s the best wish I’ve seen for awhile. It’s selfish and to the point; wishes should be like this. I’ve seen more than one, in English, wanting world peace and harmony and all that bull. Here’s an English 絵馬 written by my friend Daniel in Tokyo. His is a good one too.
These are generally the things I’ve participated in each of my Japanese New Years. It’s a very tradition based celebration where everyone does the same thing.
Additional Resources
Here’s a website about 妙見山. It has great pictures of what I’ve just talked about. Sorry, it’s all in Japanese.
Here’s an interesting page about Japanese New Years and what to expect. It has a good pros and cons page about travelling in Japan during this time.
January 6th, 2005 at 17:05
Tell your friend daniel that monkey’s already rule the earth. The head honcho’s name is George. George dubbya Bush.
I want to shop, life sucks. Maybe if i get rich i’ll visit you in Japan!
January 7th, 2005 at 12:37
hello jello, this message has nothing to do with your update (too long to read). Just wanted to say hello and Happy New Years! I don’t have to go to school today nor tm (we are snowed in!! yay!) I haven’t visited your site for a long while, the only thing i read was the tsunami destruction…it’s horrifying…the least we did was donate some money…on a happier note, how are things going?? nice car! hahaaha i am old now dude….and im graduating soon which makes me feel even older…i want to travel after i graduate before i start looking for a job…but no money, but i would love to go to japan with victor and visit you and explore the japanese culture. By the way, our group is planning to work on this new marketing plan which deals with this japanese company. I think it will be a great challenge for us, but i sure do hope we win that award and the other provincial marketing award for our last project. wish me luck, ill talk to you soon, little sister (but really, old sister now)
January 8th, 2005 at 04:44
Hey this update rules, great read! Videos, pictures, wry commentary… uh why do I always compliment you on your updates?
Anyway it was good stuff and I really liked the sound of that bell. It’s so… metal. I need to sample it for our next album. Dong! Dong! and then blasting drums come in. Ooh yeah!
January 8th, 2005 at 05:04
http://enerve.org/oh.holy.night.mp3
I really needed to share this with you guys. It’s quite frankly the best thing i’ve heard in a while.
January 8th, 2005 at 17:21
So the video worked alright?
January 9th, 2005 at 06:07
The video works, right down to Eri saying, “Is it recording?”