Four Seasons in Japan: January 2017

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Tamaseseri

What do you associate with Japanese festivals?

I see barely clothed men run in my head... They run, compete for something, soak in the cold water even in winter. Of course there are many different types of Japanese festivals.

Tamatori-sai, known as Tamaseseri, is an annual Shinto ritual held at Hakozakigu Shrine, Fukuoka Prefecture on January 3rd. It dates back to 500 years. Two groups compete for a sacred wooden ball, which is believed to bring good luck to those who touched it.

Water is showered on participators.

Sunday, January 1, 2017

New Year's Day 2017

Happy New Year!

It's a nice sunny and calm day in Yokohama.
Best wishes for a safe New Year.

2017 is the Year of the Rooster according to the Chinese zodiac. Each of the 12 Chinese zodiac signs is related to a characteristic animal.

New Year's card

It is said to be particularly good luck to dream of Mt. Fuji, a hawk or an eggplant in the first night of the year.

New Year's card

Ready-made New Year's dishes are set in three-tiered boxes. Most of the ready-made New Year's dishes are sold frozen and we thaw them at room temperature.

We eat soup called ozouni(お雑煮) containing vegetables and rice cakes for New Year's Day. Its contents used to be offerings to gods. The soup is cooked in various ways according to regional custom.

Ozouni Kenkyujo(OZOUNIYA.co.ltd) is a website about ozouni (sorry, Japanese version only):
http://www.zouni.jp/category/topic1/

Aotama Jinja
photo by 高画質壁紙写真集無料壁紙

New Year's pine decoration at Aotama Jinja Shrine(青玉神社), Hyogo Prefecture

The deity of the year bringing a good harvest goes down from the sky to New Year's pine and bamboo decorations or New Year pine decorations.

This small shrine has several old Japanese cedar trees including 1000-year-old one.

Aotama Jinja
photo by 高画質壁紙写真集無料壁紙