After eating a wonderful meal prepared by Masayo, Ian's family, Masayo and I got dressed in warm clothes and walked to the near by Jodo Shinshu temple. The others left to go to largest shrine in Nagoya. The entrance was decorated with bamboo sections that had candles inside. It was very pretty but too dark to take a picture. Once on the temple grounds, we looked at the garden (see picture below) and had a cup of sake as we watched the priests ring the large bell that stands in a tower in the yard. On New Years, temples ring the bell 108 times to represent the 108 problems that afflict mankind. These problems as said to disappear with the sound.
The main building was lit and quite pretty. Inside the lighted windows on the bottom right of the next picture we saw a group of people in formal kimonos filing up to the main hall for the formal prays. They were wearing kimonos that looked exactly like the kimonos worn by Shinto priests, except they were a different color. Buddhism and Shinto sometimes blend together so that they are difficult to separate.
Last year we left at this point. Ian and I were getting ready to leave when we realized that the rest of our group had disappeared. After looking around, we discovered that their shoes were in the entrance to the temple building. We went in and found that it was possible to enter the main hall. Ian and I went in and offered a pray (and some money) at the altar. The place was much more elaborate than I expected. I wish that it had been appropriate to take a picture. As we were putting on our shoes to leave, a priestess came out and said that prays would be over in an hour or so and that we were more than welcome to come back and join the party that they were going to have. We declined because we were on our way to the shrine and by the time we left there it would be very late - we still had to clean up from the party.At the shrine we stood in line to go up to the front of the main building and offer the traditional prayers and a gift of money. After we mounted the steps, made the monetary gift (actually the equivalent of a few cents), rang the bell to announce our presence to the god, and prayed, we moved of to the right where we were given a drink of sake and then some mochi (gooey rice that is pounded into a solid mass). I had mine with bean paste; the others had it in a soup.
We then walked over to the left of the above picture and had got our fortunes for the coming year. I did two different kinds: one was good -kichi- and the other was the very best -daikichi. It was interesting that both suggested that I should travel during the coming year. It was very cold, snowing a little, so they had fires burning in metal baskets on stands (see below).
On the way home, Ian and I stopped at the shrine for the local river god. We went through the same procedure: monetary offering, bow, ring the bell, clap our hands, pray, bow again, and leave. There was no lighting so the atmosphere was very pleasing. The picture below shows this little shrine as it looks in the daylight.
After we arrived home, we all had bowls of soup containing soba (buckwheat noodles) and then Ian and his family left for home. Then I washed the dishes and Masayo cleaned up everything else. I fell happily in bed about 3:30.
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