New Year Rituals In Hiroshima

January 2nd was scheduled to be a working day, but just barely.  Luckily, we were able to work a little late on January 1st and complete all the tasks for the next day.  So January 2nd became a day off.  Woo Hoo Hoo.

By the Shinkansen bullet train, it is only 1 hour and 15 minutes from Kobe to Hiroshima.  So, Theresa and I grabbed a couple of tickets and went.  Our first stop was the Peace Park.  After that, we walked the 5 or 6 blocks up to Hiroshima Castle. 

Due to the New Year's holidays the castle was closed to entry.   So the photo at top is the best we can do.   There has been a castle on this site since the 1500s.  The previous version of the castle was incinerated on August 6, 1945.  The current version of the castle was built shortly after that.  It is a great reconstruction and, from looking at it, I couldn't tell if it was 50 years old or 500 years old.

Adjacent to the Hiroshima Castle is a Shinto temple, the Gokoku Shrine.  On January 2nd, the people were still in full-on-New-Year mode.  Tons of people were headed to the shrine to obtain their good luck for the year.   Once again, we encountered a throng of people that self-organized into a line for entry to the temple complex.  Once again, it was a bit like the state fair ....with all the food vendors flanking the path.

The line snaked its way through booths that were selling food and smelling wonderful.  Above, you can see a meat-on-a-stick vendor.  I'm not sure exactly what all the meats are, but I know the meat to the right is octopus.  Below you see a new-and-improved version for sale....meat on a stick with egg.

Many of the booths along the way offered fortune telling of all sorts.  Below is a photo of one of the palm readers.

The line moved steadily but slowly.  The photo below shows when we finally arrived at the temple gates.

The line led up the steps of the temple itself.  The photo below attempts to show how people were throwing coins as offerings....and how the temple keepers had built temporary catch basins to pick up the coins.   I suspect that the New Year Holiday must fund the majority of the yearly operations.

The photo below is a fortune-telling booth.  Basically, people would shake a container full of randomly numbered sticks to extract a single stick.  They would then give stick to one of the ladies who would retrieve the fortune associated with the number on the stick.

Below is a photo of people tying their wishes to a wish-line.  I call it a wish-line because it looks like a clothes-line.  I am not sure what the offical term is for this.  But at the temples you can see hundreds of paper wishes tied to lines like this one.

In the photo below, visitors to the temple are buying a ritual drink of hot sake to start the new year.

The photo below shows the booth were they are selling lucky "arrows".  In the Shinto tradition, the arrows are said to have powers to ward off evil spirits.   But supposedly, the arrows are only good for one year.  With the new year you are supposed to start over by turning in your old arrow (for burning) and buying a new arrow for the new year.

Theresa had to buy one of the arrows.  Below is a photo showing her with her fine selection of purple color, of course.

The photo below shows another one of the New Year rituals.  Visitors are washing their hands in the temple fountain. 

The New Year holiday also brings out a lot of people in traditional dress.  The photo below shows a young girl in her kimono.    Many kimonos were seen out and about during the holiday period.