住吉大社、市戎・大国祭にて撮影

人の祈りは炎に、煙に、そして空へと昇る。

機材：FUJIX-A3 55ｍｍ-230ｍｍ XC50-230mmF4.5-6.7

住吉大社、市戎・大国祭にて撮影
祈祷木の焚き上げです
祈り、届くといいですね。

初詣⛄
荻窪にある井草八幡宮、広くて居心地の良い神社でした⛩😊

[English／日本語]
Happy New Year to you all! I hope to see you again this year.

In Japan, the new year begins on January 1st. What do you do at the beginning of a new year in your country? This time, I would like to introduce the Japanese New Year.

1 Nengajo（New Year's card）
A letter sent between January 1 and January 7 to wish someone a happy new year is called a nengajo. Recently, many people have been using social networking services instead of letters. Also, New Year's greeting cards cannot be sent to family members or relatives who have passed away in the previous year. Please be careful with this.

2 Hatsuhinode（First sunrise）
The sunrise on the first day of the year is called the "first sunrise" and is considered to be a very good omen. Did you see it?

3 Hatsumode（First visit to a shrine）
A New Year's visit to a shrine to pray for the safety of the year is called "Hatsumode". At Hatsumode, people draw omikuji fortunes to tell their fortune for the year and buy good luck charms.

4 Otoshidama（New Year's gift）
Onyedama is money that children can receive on New Year's Day. It is a fun event for children.

5 Osechi cuisine
Osechi-ryori is a New Year's feast. Each of these treats has its own meaning. For example, prawns have a meaning of "long life" because of their bent waist. Also, yellow food is believed to bring good luck with money. This is eaten from January 1st to the 3rd, which also means that you don't have to do any housework for the three days of the New Year.

6 Hstuyume（First dream）
What kind of dream did you have at the beginning of the year? In Japan, it is said to be good luck to dream of "Mt.

May this year be a wonderful one for all of you!

あけましておめでとうございます。今年も宜しくお願いします。

日本は1月1日から新しい年が始まります。みなさんの国では新しい年の始まりに何をしますか？今回は日本のお正月について紹介します。

①年賀状
1月1日から1月7日までの間に送る、新年のお祝いを伝える手紙を「年賀状」といいます。最近は手紙ではなく、SNSなどで済ませる人も多くなっています。また、年賀状は前年に家族や親せきがなくなっている人には送ることがきません。みなさん気を付けてくださいね。

②初日の出
1月1日に昇る太陽を「初日の出」と言います。この初日の出はとても縁起のいいものとされています。みなさんは見ましたか？

③初詣
お正月に1年の無事を祈るために、神社にお参りをすることを「初詣」と言います。初詣では1年の運勢を占うおみくじを引いたり、お守りを買ったりします。

④お年玉
お年玉はお正月に子どもがもらうことができるお金です。子どもたちにとってはお楽しみのイベントだと言えます。

⑤おせち料理
おせち料理はお正月に食べるごちそうのことです。このご馳走には一つ一つ意味があります。例えば、海老は腰が曲がっているため、「長生きできる」という意味があります。また、黄色い食べ物は金運が上がるとされています。これは1月1日から3日まで食べるもので、お正月の3日間家事をしなくてもいいという点もあります。

⑥初夢
みなさんは1年の始まりにどんな夢を見ましたか？日本では「富士山」「鷹」「ナス」の夢を見ると縁起がいいとされています。

今年がみなさんにとって素晴らしい1年でありますように！

Wanted to do Hatsumode this year but didn't want to go anywhere crowded, so I decided to go out to Saitama and find a small shrine to visit. Ended up at this tiny shrine in Nishi-Omiya called Fukuda Inari Shrine 福田稲荷神社. It was super small and not a single person was there so it was like we had the whole place to ourselves.

There was no real path leading up to the shrine so we had to walk through a plot of land that wasn't being used but it ended up being a really cool place.
The approach to the shrine was really mysterious and once you get past the second torii gate you can see a bamboo forest surrounding the whole area. It was really neat as I couldn't see any bamboo from the outside and didn't really know what to expect when I visited.

The shrine itself looks almost deserted but somehow still well maintained.
I wanted to go inside to look at the pictures better but obviously I can't so I just admired them from afar.
The temizuya/chozuya or at least I think it was that, maybe this would be considered a chozubachi? didn't have a ladle to wash your hands but maybe it has to do with corona.

Anyways, it was a really nice little shrine and is a great place if you're looking for a mini adventure outside of Tokyo.
Or if you want to do Hatsumode and avoid the crowds completely lol.
Also, happy new year!

New Year's Holidays
Our school will be closed from December 29th to January 3rd. Thank you all for your support this year. Have a Happy New Year.

年末年始のご案内
12月29日～1月3日は休校とさせていただきます。皆様、本年は大変お世話になりました。良いお年をお迎えください.

正月の浅草仲見世。毎年、沢山の初詣客で賑わいます

Just a smaller post today. A photo that I took in Asakusa before the pandemic broke out. I remember eating some delicious ramen in the area as well. Hoping that everything returns back to normal by new years. Would love to visit Sensoji Temple this year if possible. Or at least some other shrine within range for Hatsumode. I still need to climb Mt. Fuji as well, but maybe in a couple more years. As long as I do it before I can't walk anymore lol

おせち

日本には沢山の素敵な伝統や文化が沢山あると思いました。
我が家の正月料理達です。
自分もいつか作るようになる、そんな伝統が嬉しく感じるそんな日になりました。
日本の皆様にとって素敵な一年になりますように。

おせち

日本には沢山の素敵な伝統や文化が沢山あると思いました。
我が家の正月料理達です。
自分もいつか作るようになる、そんな伝統が嬉しく感じるそんな日になりました。
日本の皆様にとって素敵な一年になりますように。

日本の正月🎍
七福神

日本の正月🎍
初詣⛩

Looking at this picture I realized I've never actually seen fireworks in the snow. I've done them for New Years of course, but living in Tokyo it doesn't snow much. Also where I was from the in the US we didn't get a lot of snow either. This looks like a lot of fun though. I didn't get to do fireworks this New Years but I was able to have a lot of fun still. Ate some great food with some great people and had fun playing games together. I've visited Aomori a few times in the past though and it was a lot of fun so maybe next year I'll head out there and enjoy these fireworks for New Years! Either way, this Kabushima Shrine looks really beautiful on top of the hill. The path leading up to the shrine and the torii gates are really neat. I looked it up a little more and it looks like a lot of seagulls gather at the shrine as well. Makes sense since it's right next to the beach. Really awesome!

Some pictures I took at Meiji Jingu Shrine around New Years