On New Years Day, my husband and I thought it would be a wonderful experience to visit a shrine! We found one near our area called Shinmeisha Shrine, which happened to be only a few minutes away by car! ^_^ However, it didn't exactly have an address, so we kind of got lost a bit trying to get there, but we managed to find our way there. When we arrived, we were amazed with how beautiful it was, and how many people were there!
There was a huge line waaay outside of the torii gates just for people who wanted to say their new years prayers, but it moved at a fairly quick pace. Once we made it to the entrance, we noticed that people were stepping out of the line and making their way to what looked like a fountain or a well of water with ladles next to it. They scooped the water with the ladles and poured it onto their hands. Following their example, my husband and I did the same. We later found out that this is actually customary when visiting a shrine, and it's to purify your hands. We then moseyed our way back into the line and observed our surroundings as we waited. There were many miko (shrine priestesses) who all looked so beautiful in their red hakama serving tea and selling charms, incense, and small statues of snakes in honor of the year of the snake. We really wished we could have taken close up pictures of them, but we didn't know whether it would be awkward for us to ask them, and plus, we don't exactly know how to say "can we take your picture" in Japanese quite yet. ^^; (We really need to learn that one!)
We also had noticed a fire pit near the altar, where people were throwing what looked like thick, braided rope into it. We're still unsure about what it's for or what it may symbolize, so we are planning on asking someone to help enlighten us on the practice. My husband and I found it to be fairly fascinating, so we really want to know about it!
As we drew closer to the front of the line, we closely observed the actions of those who have made it to the prayer altar. We took note of how they first put an offering of yen into the offertory box, rung the bell (called a suzu) that was set up in front of the box, bowed twice, clapped twice, said a short prayer, and then bowed once more before leaving. We made sure to have it memorized before it was time for us to go up, and mimicked it.
When we walked down the steps of the altar, we found ourselves in an area of the shrine where New Year fortunes could be drawn for 100 yen! We decided to give it a try, and we both drew our fortunes, though we don't exactly know what they say just yet. xD We'll have them translated by my husband's friend soon though! I really hope neither of us got bad luck! lols! We both were very familiar with drawing fortunes, though. We're both really into anime, and shrine visits are quite commonly seen in countless different series. It was very fun to actually be able to participate in something like that!
On our way out, we spotted a taiyaki (fish shaped cakes usually filled with either sweet red bean paste or custard) and takoyaki ( round balls made from batter with octopus at the center of it and topped with things like Japanese mayonnaise, bonito flakes, green onions, and sometimes other toppings)stand set up just in front of the exit, so we landed up grabbing a couple of taiyaki (we got the red bean ones) to enjoy. They were perfect because they were very fresh and hot and they kind of helped keep our hands warm as we were eating them. xD
I really loved our visit to Shinmeisha Shrine. I hope that we get to go again next year and the year after!
Here are some pictures we got of the shrine, too! Please enjoy! ^_^
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