This Is Japan
Explore everyday life in Japan
Hatsumoude is a term that describes going to a Shinto shrine for the first time of the year and praying to the god of that shrine for blessings on the new year.
Of course, it depends on where you live, which shrine you visit, and the time of day or night that you go to pray, but generally, if you go to a major shrine during the daytime hours between January 1st and 3rd, you can expect to find a crowd of people waiting in a line, ten or more people across, slowly moving their way down a footpath through a series of torii gates, between the “Lion Dogs” (komainu) that guard the path, past food and toy vendors, and up to the shrine where they have a choice of waiting longer to pray in the middle of the shrine (which is more desirable) or waiting for a shorter period of time and praying in the less desirable positions that can be found to the left or right of the shrine’s frontal façade.
Praying in front of a shrine begins with making an offering of money to the god of the shrine.
Typically, this is a small offering, between five and five hundred yen, that is thrown into a wooden box placed between a railing and the shrine room itself. There are people, though, who do make larger offerings of 5,000 and even 10,000 yen (roughly 50 or 100 USD). After having made your offering, it is custom to bow twice, clap your hands twice, and then, while your hands are still together and without speaking, ask for a blessing of some sort. After having asked for a blessing, it is custom to bow once more before leaving the shrine.
In addition to praying, many people also buy protective talismans while doing hatsumoude.
These talismans can be bought at shrines any time throughout the year, but as is it custom in Japan to clean one’s house at the end of the year and begin the new year fresh and clean, the talismans of the old year are generally taken down from home shrines, removed from cars, wallets, bags, etc. at the end December and brought to shrines where they are burned and replaced.
There are many kinds of talismans that one can buy: talismans for love, talismans for health, talismans for studying and for safe driving, talismans for making money, fertility talismans, power talismans, and even talismans meant specifically for use by children.
The number of talismans available coupled with the amount of people shopping for them during the first week of January means that many shrines have to set up temporary wooden stalls on their grounds to accommodate the increased sales.
In addition to buying talismans, many people also like to buy a fortune for the year while doing hatsumoude.
These fortunes are called Omikuji in Japanese. There are two ways Omikuji can be bought, but the newer and more common way to buy one is to pay one-hundred-yen, reach your hand in a box, and pull out a small, folded piece of paper. Your fortune for the year, including details about your health, love life, work, home-life, investing possibilities, and more will be cryptically written on this piece of paper. A general forecast for the year will also be written there in the form of great, good, so-so, not very good, bad, very bad, and even cursed.
Undesirable fortunes are tied to the branches of pine trees and other objects on the shrine’s grounds so as to separate one’s self from the bad luck contained in the fortune. Desirable fortunes are often kept close to one’s person throughout the year—in a wallet or a purse—though some people believe that tying a good fortune to a pine tree on the grounds of the shrine will connect the fortune’s blessings to the god of the shrine and help to ensure that the fortune’s predictions come true.
Lastly, or perhaps, first, depending on the order in which things are done, hatsumoude typically involves a trip to the fire pit.
At the fire pit, last year's talismans and shrine decorations are burned in a show of respect and thanks to the god that has provided protection during the past year.
This is an ongoing series that will explore various aspects of daily life in Japan. My hope is that this series will not only reveal to its followers, image by image, what Japan looks like, but that it will also inform its followers about unique Japanese items and various cultural and societal practices. If you are interested in getting regular updates about life in Japan, please consider following me at @boxcarblue. If you have any questions about life in Japan, please don’t hesitate to ask. I will do my best to answer all of your questions.
In case you have not seen it, this post inspired me to write this little piece of fiction: https://steemit.com/fiction/@lennstar/the-first-shrine-visit
Thanks for sharing. I'm glad to hear that I helped create a spark of inspiration.
Hello! I find what you are doing extremely interesting, perfect for people who cant travel or maye who want to know Japan from a personal perpective, not turistic nor edited. Thanks and happy 2017! Keep posting, ill follow
Wow! Thank you for such an encouraging comment! I'll do my best to keep things going.
Happy 2017 to you as well.
Its ok you are welcome
hi there, not sure if I have talked to you before but somehow the anpanman picture makes me decide to do so today. I've been following you from a very early time since the start of your this is japan series. I am quite fascinated by many things in Japan actually (not the comics, games ... mostly lifestyle, culture, ... anyway just like those reflected in your articles). Taiwan is probably one of few countries that knows Japan well, but yet sometimes I find myself quite confused when I had the chance to visit Japan several times during the past few year. This is definitely a country, or a people, of mystery, of contradictions, of amaze. Honestly, I did not read all your posts but I can feel that this is the writing style/subject that I like. Feel like we can have a lot to talk about if we really meet. :) Also, I also support your new exploration lately, if I have more time, I will try to respond to your wwyw. Before that day comes, happy new year!
Thank you for reaching out today. I'm not always good at doing it myself. I often look at and read your posts as well. That's funny that Anpanman was the catalyst for you. I am guessing that Anpanman is also popular in Taiwan, then. It's amazing how much the young children here love him. I actually have a post about Anpanman that I hope to write soon.
If you have any ideas about good topics for the wwyw series, please let me know. Or, write a post yourself for me to comment on.
Happy New Year!
I really like how the Anpanman cartoon makes so many cute characters out of, well, mostly food. It is one of the cartoons that are so 'Japanese'. One of the seemingly contradiction that I found is that: they have such seemingly violent things like bushido and at the same time, they, probably unaware of this themselves (as I once asked a jap friend of mine), really love to 'cartoonize' so many things in life (so cawaii is a really important word for japan, I guess). Look forward to your version of Anpanman. :)
The warrior's code. Yeah, there is quite a lot of severity embedded in the culture here, and Japan's history spotted with extreme violence. Supposedly the idea for Anpanman came out of the illustrator's, Takashi Yanase, wartime experiences--times when he was facing starvation and dreamt of eating 'Anpan' (sweet bread filled with a red bean paste called anko). I guess you can see the dichotomy there, even in the character's conception.
The love for food and cuteness here are pretty unique. Even as I become accustomed to these things, I can't quite understand them.
Great article. One place I have never been but would like to visit someday
It's not a very big country, but there is a lot to see. If you make it over here, I highly recommend trying to spend at the very least three weeks here.