I watched the New Year’s fire brigade ritual by the Kawagoe Wakatobi Association at Kawagoe Hachimangu Shrine.
They look sharp.

This is the Year of the Horse omikuji from Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine.
May it bring you blessings as well.🐴✨

Photographed on January 1, 2014.
This is a photo spot at Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine.

Photographed on January 1, 2014.
Around 6:00 a.m. at Kawagoe Kumano Shrine, this is the temizuya (water pavilion).
The unusual atmosphere compared with usual is lovely.

Photographed on January 3, 2014.
This is the New Year floral temizu basin at Kawagoe Hachimangu Shrine.

Happy New Year from Gen at Shosenkyo Gorge. I look forward to your continued support this year.

The 8th year of Reiwa has begun, and a week has already passed.
The weather in Yamanashi’s Shosenkyo has been fine every day, with no snow, making for very pleasant days.

Kanazakura Shrine, famous as the birthplace of crystal, has been welcoming visitors for New Year’s prayers from all over the country every day, creating a lively atmosphere.

Kanazakura Shrine is also well known as a place to improve your financial luck.
Why not pay a visit sometime?

Gen has been open without a break since New Year’s Day on January 1st.
We have also received a steady arrival of new power stones.

If you have time, please feel free to drop by.

All of our staff are sincerely looking forward to your visit.

Photographed on January 3, 2014.
This is the hanachozu (flower water basin) at Kawagoe Hachimangu Shrine.
It looks festive and bright for the New Year.🎍✨

Photographed on January 3, 2014.
These are the hanachōzu (flower water basins) at Kawagoe Hachimangu Shrine.

Photographed on December 29, 2025.
This is the torii at Kawagoe Hachimangu Shrine dressed for New Year’s. 🎍

At a quiet temple in Kawagoe, piles of weathered Daruma rest in one place, their wishes fulfilled. Each New Year, people return their old Daruma here, a ritual of gratitude and release. In the frame, an elderly woman gently places hers atop the others, bowing slightly—an act she learned as a child. Once, her parents brought her; later, she brought her children. The Daruma come and go, but the tradition remains, passed patiently from old to young, year after year.
Location: Kitain temple, Kawagoe, Saitama.

The kanji chosen as Kawagoe's hope for Reiwa 8 is "emi," meaning "smile."
Although I will be transferring at the end of this month—still within Kawagoe—I will start fresh and do my best. 😊

Photographed on January 1, 2014.
This is Kawagoe Kumano Shrine around 6:00 a.m.

It was around 6:30 a.m. at Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine.

It’s around 6:30 a.m. at Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine.

Izumo Taisha Kyoto Branch
37-5 Shimoyata-cho Nakayama, Kameoka City, Kyoto Prefecture

Izumo Taisha Kyoto Branch is a branch of Izumo Taisha in Shimane Prefecture, located in Kameoka City, Kyoto Prefecture.

The shrine enshrines Ōkuninushi-no-Ōkami, widely revered as the kami of matchmaking and the god of good fortune.

Takakura Jinja
2283 Higashi Ashida, Aogaki-cho, Tamba City, Hyogo Prefecture

Start the New Year smiling with an extra-large omikuji.
Takakura Jinja in Higashi Ashida, Aogaki-cho, Tamba City, Hyogo Prefecture will begin handing out omikuji larger than an opened newspaper from 12:00 a.m. on January 1.
Visitors draw the fortune by shaking a cylinder about the height of a child and pulling it out.
“Come with family and friends and take home great fortune and laughter,” they say. The offering runs through January 4.


The omikuji measures A1 size: 59.4 cm tall and 84.1 cm wide. It claims to be the largest omikuji in Japan. Making use of its size, the fortunes are divided into detailed categories. For example, “love” is broken down into meeting someone ▽ unrequited love ▽ marriage prospects ▽ being popular ▽ dates ▽ compatibility.

It is about 6:00 a.m. at Kawagoe Kumano Shrine.

kyoto ebisu shrine

125 Komatsucho, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture

In Kyoto there is a shrine where visitors throw offerings upward to get them into the offertory box.
That shrine, located in Gion, is the ebisu shrine (Ebisu Shrine), and for some reason an offertory box is installed above the torii gate...



The Toka Ebisu festival at Kyoto Ebisu Shrine is held over five days each year from January 8 (Thursday) to January 12 (Monday). It is believed to bring blessings for prosperous business and traffic safety, and the shrine is affectionately known locally as “Kyo no Ebessan.”

I woke up early to visit the shrine for my first prayers of the year.
This is the Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine’s Kawagoe sweet potato fortune. 🍠
I received a New Year’s morning ceremony blessing, and fortunately I was also given a matchmaking charm. I hope good things come to you in a chain like sweet potato vines. 😊🍠

Happy New Year! 🎍🐎
Wishing you a wonderful year ahead.

New Year shrine-visit guide 🎍
This time we introduce Kikuchi Shrine, Hokumiya Aso Shrine, Hachidai Ryuo Shrine, and Mt. Kuradake.

Kikuchi Shrine
The shrine approach glows with warm lights at night, making for great photos.
The "New Year Fortune Fukumikji" features luck-bringing prizes, including a Kikuchi Shrine award of an ever-growing half-sho of sacred sake and a grand prize of a zodiac ornament.
Amazake is also available on the grounds, offering a relaxing warm break.

Hokumiya Aso Shrine
Hokumiya Aso Shrine sits right beside the gentle flow of the Kikuchi River.
"Free Amazake Distribution"
・From New Year’s Eve, amazake will be distributed for free (while supplies last).
"New Year Limited Goshuin"
・A limited goshuin stamp will be offered for the New Year.

If you plan to watch the first sunrise, consider the views from Mt. Kuradake 🌄
Mt. Kuradake has a route that starts from the ninth station, so why not try a sunrise ascent to greet the first sun of the year?

#Kikuchi Shrine #Mt. Kuradake hike #Kikuchi City, Kumamoto Prefecture

https://kikuchikanko.ne.jp/archives/22620
https://kikuchikanko.ne.jp/archives/22679