2006-7: A Christmas Chronology, pt. IV

January 2-3
So here I am taking a big risk by putting up a new post before anyone commented on the last one! Oh, well...I seem to be killing off my audience anyway, so I might as well get to the point.

My family never does its hatsunode (first prayers for the new year) on the 1st because Kashima Shrine (not to mention every other major shrine or temple in the country) tends to look like this. We usually wait till the 2nd so that the crowds can thin out a bit.

Unfortunately, we never made it on the 2nd. We'd planned to go, and the in-laws had set their own schedules so they could go with us, but my wife suddenly decided to spend all day having our kids work on drills and school-related stuff. She was being particularly strict, and both kids were in tears for a while. Meanwhile, I worked on putting together the latest homegrown album I've just finished. Then we did a bit more cleaning, adding even more to the wall of garbage bags.

We went to Kashima Shrine on the 3rd, instead. As always, I avoided the crowds and parking fees by going to the shrine's back door. The little parking lot down there quite often has spaces available, and even if it doesn't there are lots of little back roads and empty lots nearby that provide convenient (and free) parking. Getting up to the shrine itself from there requires a bit of a climb up a steep hill, but I'd rather deal with that than the mess at the main entrance.



Since we came in through the back door, we came to the inner shrine first. As you can see, there was quite a line of people waiting to pray, but nothing like what it no doubt was on the 1st. The inner shrine is smaller, simpler, and less famous than the outer one. It is also older and more sacred.



On our way down the avenue leading to the outer shrine. Naturally, most of the traffic is heading in the opposite direction. The lane is lined with giant trees, mostly sugi (Japanese cedar) and hinoki (Japanese cypress), and there is forest all around. The air in there is really clean and fragrant even with all that mass of humanity.



Here you can see the crowd of worshippers lined up in front of the outer shrine. There is a huge, double offering box set up so that a whole bunch of people can pray at the same time. The line is still backed up, but at least the square isn't totally jammed full. You can also see the famous, red mon, or Chinese gate, which is actually unusual for a Shinto shrine. It is actually an example of Buddhist architecture and a relic of the time when Kashima Shrine served as a Zen monastery. (Can you see my daughter in the picture?)



The next item on the agenda is to burn last year's talismans and buy new ones. I'm dead serious. Not far from the outer shrine is a large, sunken fire pit into which people toss their charms and daruma from the previous year so that their spirits can be released and renewed. Then they purchase replacements. The daruma, which are actually Buddhist, have to be obtained at tent stalls just outside the shrine. Charms and talismans, however, are bought at this building, which is opposite the outer shrine. The employees are acolytes of the shrine, all of them local teenagers. (Some of them are my students. One of the ones in the picture is my wife's former student who apparently moved.) Yes, it's quite a money-making racket, but it's harmless and it helps support the shrine. Besides, it's tradition! (I won't tell you how much I spent there. Actually, it was a bit less than last year.)



Next on the agenda is spending even more money...this time on omikuji, or fortunes for the new year. Just for fun, everyone in my family bought one (100 yen each...about $0.80). Guess what? We all got the same result! I wonder what the odds are for that; there are many possibilities!

I tried to get a good picture of the colorful inner sanctum of the outer shrine, its design a hallmark of the era in which it was built. However, not only was the scenic path blocked off, but when I set up for a shot a strong breeze kicked up all of a sudden, lifting up a curtain which then blocked my view. I took the shots anyway when the wind subsided for a bit, dropping the curtain briefly, but they're not worth posting here.



Next we made our way back down the hill to the rear entrance. (If you look at the first pic, you can see my wife and daughter walking up ahead of the other people.)



The rear area of the shrine is a little park whose main feature is Miterashi-no-Ike (御手洗池 - lit. "Hand-Washing Pond"), a pond fed by a natural spring (in the background of the first pic above) whose waters are believed to be both healthy and filled with spiritual energy. Many people bottle the water and take it home. The pond itself is crystal clear, and the way it refracts water makes it hard to guage its depth. It is said that, if people of different sizes bathe in it, they all appear to be the same height. I don't know about that, but I do know it looks a lot shallower than it really is! The carp that swim in it seem happy, too.





The runoff from Miterashi-no-Ike forms to shallower, decorative ponds in a beautiful garden. There was an old man sitting in the shelter playing traditional tunes on an old-style flute. It definitely added to the atmosphere. Very Japanese...and what more would you want at an ancient and historically famous Shinto shrine during the New Year celebrations?



As we were leaving, we suddenly ran into a whole bunch of people we knew. First there was two members of the Kashima Philharmonic supporters' club followed by a whole mass of 11th grade students from Ye Olde Academy^TM followed by one of the instructors from my kids' traditional Japanese dance troupe. One of them inevitably offered to take a picture of us, so here it is. I end my Christmas/New Year Chronology by blowing my anonymity and showing you all the sad truth.

Happy New Year, everybody! May 2007 treat us all well!