Today I attended the Year-End Great Purification ceremony at Kawagoe Hachimangu Shrine. I purified the spiritual and physical impurities of sin. Feeling refreshed, I look forward to welcoming the New Year.🎍🐎

Great value and convenience! The Kikuchi Tourism Association has launched its official LINE account. We share tourist information about Kikuchi City and distribute valuable coupons you can use at local shops. Kikuchi City, Kumamoto Prefecture, lies about 25 km northeast of Kumamoto City in the center of the prefecture. It is a region rich in nature where history and culture live on. The Kikuchi River runs through the city center, surrounded by mountains and pastoral scenery. Kikuchi also offers many hot springs and sightseeing spots, making it an ideal place to relax and refresh. The famous Kikuchi Gorge features beautiful ravines and clear streams, perfect for hiking and nature walks, and attracts many visitors. Kikuchi Onsen first sprang in 1954 (Showa 29). The springs use 100% natural water, boast abundant flow, and are colorless, transparent, and alkaline. The soft, skin-friendly waters consistently emerge at 45°C at the source and are reputed to help with beauty concerns, neuralgia, and rheumatism. Kikuchi Onsen is well known as a hot spring resort, having first surfaced in 1954. Using 100% natural spring water, the baths are plentiful, colorless, transparent, and alkaline, with a gentle, soft quality for the skin. Kikuchi Shrine is a historic shrine revered as the region’s guardian deity. Agriculture thrives here, producing specialty rice, vegetables, and fruit. Many local markets and restaurants sell fresh, local ingredients. Kikuchi City also preserves active traditional events and festivals where you can experience local culture. We share many attractions of Kikuchi and offer coupons through the official LINE account to help you enjoy the city even more. Participating stores will continue to increase. Please use the service when you visit Kikuchi. Be sure to add us as a friend and take advantage of the offers. For details, please see the Kikuchi Tourism Association website. https://kikuchikanko.ne.jp/archives/featured/kikuchikanko-line...

Shirahige Shrine sits a little off the main road of Imajo-shuku Post Town. It is affectionately known as the Lower Shrine in contrast to Shilla Shrine, which is called Kaminomiya or the Upper Shrine. This quiet, sacred place is lined with towering cedar trees around a slightly long flight of stone steps.

Hatsumode in Shimoda *The photo shows Shimoda Daruma Daishi. ● Izu Shirahama Shrine Known as the oldest shrine in Izu with a history of 2,400 years. The enshrined deities are Ikonahime no Mikoto, Mishima Daimyojin, Mimena, Wakamiya, and Tsurugi-no-miko—five honored gods. https://ikonahime.jp//　※駐車場あり ● Shimoda Daruma Daishi A Soto Zen temple founded over 400 years ago. Revered as the "Daruma Ambassador of Good Fortune," it is believed to grant wishes for prosperous business, family safety, traffic safety, academic success, warding off bad luck and inviting good fortune, and attracting financial blessings. It enjoys deep devotion from worshippers. Note: parking available. ● Shimoda Hachiman Shrine This shrine serves as the venue for the grand festival of Shimoda Hachiman Shrine. It bustles with worshippers from the festival community and local residents. The kinme omikuji is also recommended. Note: please use nearby coin parking.

Oagata Shrine "ooagata jinja" Miyayama 3, Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture This shrine enshrines Oagata no Okami, the ancestral deity of Owari land reclamation. The present shrine buildings were rebuilt in Kanbun 1 (1661) by Tokugawa Mitsutomo, the second lord of the Owari Domain, and they faithfully convey the architectural style known as Owari-zukuri. In particular, the main sanctuary—composed of three connected structures and called Oagata-zukuri—features a distinctive design and is designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. On the shrine grounds, Hime no Miya enshrines Tamayorihime and is revered as a guardian for safe childbirth and for women.

Tagata Shrine 152 Tagatacho, Komaki City, Aichi Prefecture Located in Komaki City, Aichi Prefecture, this shrine is believed to bring blessings for a bountiful harvest and prosperous descendants. The annual Hounen Festival, held on March 15 each year, is known as the "spectacular festival of the nation." During this festival, a mikoshi carries a large phallic-shaped object called the oowasegata to pray for abundant harvests and the prosperity of future generations.

A few years ago, around this same season, I visited Tamura Shrine in Kagawa Prefecture to pay my respects. This shrine was not only the highest-ranking shrine in old Sanuki Province, it is also the place of worship for Hotei among the Sanuki Seven Lucky Gods, often drawing many people who come to pray for improved fortune. Beside the temizuya, a stack of special “mizu-uranai” fortune papers sat waiting. I was told that if you place the paper in water, the fortune slowly appears—mysterious and richly ceremonial. The most striking sight was the vermilion, continuous torii pathway. In the center of the path stood a huge Sanuki lion head. Its gold-and-red lion face, solemn and ornate, symbolizes the local lion dance and vividly expresses the region’s character. Since it was the year’s end, local people gathered old amulets and dolls in one spot to be taken to the shrine for a doll memorial ritual. That careful farewell to old items and the feelings they carried made the visit more than a tour of historic sites; it let me feel the local warmth and the community’s respect for tradition.

A photo taken on the grounds of Kamigamo Shrine in Kyoto. It's nice to look up at the vividly colored trees, but I thought the red maple still looked striking even after the leaves had fallen.

Photographed on December 13, 2025. This is the hanachōzu (flower basin) at Kawagoe Hachimangu Shrine.

Photographed on December 15, 2025. This is the koi-temizu (romantic hand-washing basin) at Kawagoe Kumano Shrine.❄️

Meigetsuin Temple, famous for its hydrangeas This temple in the historic city of Kamakura also offers spectacular autumn foliage. Especially from the Satori Window, the view of the autumn leaves captures a timeless sense of old Japan.

Photographed on December 15, 2025. This is the ai-tai omikuji at Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine.

Photographed on December 15, 2013. This is the Ichinen An-tai Omikuji from Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine. The orange omikuji is vermilion.

Photographed on December 15, 2025. These are the autumn leaves at Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine. 🍁

I photographed this at a light-up event held at Mamada Hachimangu Shrine in Oyama City, Tochigi Prefecture. The display of wagasa (Japanese paper umbrellas) was usually only shown on sunny weekends and was hard to see, but this time I visited for the first time. The autumn leaves were at their peak, the lighting was just right, and the wagasa stood out beautifully. It was a scene that truly evoked Japan.

In Gyoda City, Saitama Prefecture, local shops and private homes welcome visitors with hanachozu (flower-filled water basins). This time I went to see a light-up event themed “Light of Hope.” At Gyoda Hachiman Shrine, the illuminated hanachozu were beautiful, and the whole shrine was decorated so nicely that I could take photos combining the lights with the autumn leaves.

Today I attended the monthly festival at Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine. I will be able to work in Kawagoe again next year. The practical exam I took in Tokyo last week ended with a disappointing result, but I will do my best again next year. Thank you for your encouragement. 😊

Photographed on December 8, 2025. This is the hanachozu (flower-filled basin) at Kawagoe Hachimangu Shrine.

Photographed on December 8, 2025. This is the flower-filled hand-washing basin (hanachozu) at Kawagoe Hachimangu Shrine. It features Christmas colors. 🎄

Photographed on December 8, 2025. This is the hanachozu (flower water basin) at Kawagoe Hachimangu Shrine.

Photographed on December 4, 2025. After the exam, I visited Akasaka Hikawa Shrine. I was fortunate to be able to pay my respects, so I offered a katashiro (paper doll) for the year-end purification ritual.

The autumn leaves at Okuni Jinja Shrine in Shizuoka Prefecture. The vermilion bridge blends seamlessly into the fall scenery.

Photographed on December 3, 2013. This is the Tori-no-ichi fair at Kawagoe Kumano Shrine. A kumade decorated with beckoning cat charms that looks auspicious.

Photographed on December 3, Heisei 25. This is the Tori-no-Ichi fair at Kawagoe Kumano Shrine. Here is a kumade decorated for the Year of the Horse, the zodiac sign for next year. 🐎

Photographed on December 3, 2025. This is the Tori-no-Ichi fair at Kawagoe Kumano Shrine.

Held at Irozaki Ocean Park! Two months in a row 🌼 Event Month details🌿 ◉ Running through January 5! ✴︎ POP UP SHOP ✴︎ WORK SHOP ✴︎ RELAXATION ✴︎ KITCHEN CAR We invited artisans and creators from Izu to share the charms of Izu with you🫧 ————— 🌳 POP UP ◉ Local apparel / IZUBLUE @izublue_373izu ◉ Glass bead crafts / Koubou Leaf ◉ Natural stone and European bead accessories / Seki Accessory @seki_accessory_lemone_coffe ◉ Cafe / Lemone Coffee @seki_accessory_lemone_coffe ◉ New Year decorations / Tsubutsubu-tei @tubutubuchi ◉ Fukaya green onion specialty products from Saitama / kuu @kuu_minamiizu ◉ Japanese-style Ayurveda MOTHER products and ghee / mana @manan.life11 ◉ Accessories and goods / .11 @dot.jyuichi ◉ Handmade knit hats for dogs / BOTAYOGA @chle1207 ◉ Dyed textiles and small goods / Shizu & Hiro ◉ Specialty coffee / moksa coffee @moksa.coffee ◉ Limited-time price! Lighthouse tour / Minami‑Izu Geo Guide Association ◉ Izu honey and fruit preserves / The Honey Step @thehoneystep ◉ Mansa sandals / Certified Mansa Sandal Instructor Minami Tsuchiya @minami_tsuchiya_run ◉ Aroma and herbal craft items / Otentosun Farm @otentosunfarm 💫 WORK SHOP ◉ Brush calligraphy art experience / kasumi_so @kasumi_so24 ◉ Dyeing experience / Tsubutsubu-tei @tubutubuchi ◉ Shimenawa wreath making / Tsubutsubu-tei @tubutubuchi ◉ Healing ghee making / mana. @manan.life11 ◉ Make chopsticks using a plane tool / Kurasu Dougu @kurasu_dogu ◉ Aroma spray making / Island Herb Izu Aroma @island.izu ◉ Hair accessories and bracelet making / Seki Accessory @seki_accessory_lemone_coffe ◉ Calendula balm making / Otentosun Farm @otentosunfarm ◉ Christmas wreath making / Romantic Spaces Achieve @rs.achieve 🌷 RELAXATION ◉ Dog diagnosis dog yoga / BOTAYOGA @chle1207 ◉ Hand reflexology / mana @manan.life11 🍋 KITCHEN CAR ◉ Curry bread, curry, chai / KaRin Bakery @karin_bakery.rab ———— We will feature introductions to each vendor in separate posts, so please check those out too🌼 Please note the event may be canceled due to weather. WORK SHOP participants receive free parking! Please present your parking ticket at the reception desk✴︎ We will update event news as it comes, so check Instagram for the latest. WORK SHOPs have limited capacity, so please reserve in advance☺ Some artists may accept same-day WORK SHOP reservations! To make a reservation, contact via Instagram DM or call Ocean Park at 0558-65-1600✧

I am in Tokyo today for an exam. This is Tokyo Daijingu Shrine around 8:00 a.m.

This is the view of Mt. Fuji from the great torii gate of Fujisan Hongū Sengen Taisha Shrine

Shirahige Shrine 215 Ukawa, Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture Features of Shirahige Shrine Enshrined deity: Sarutahiko Okami Also known as: Itsukushima of Oumi Shrine building: The large torii gate standing in Lake Biwa is famous. Shirahige Shrine has long been revered as a deity of longevity and also as a protector of matchmaking and fertility. In particular, the vermilion great torii rising from Lake Biwa captivates many visitors with its beauty.

Today I attended the monthly festival at Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine. These are the autumn leaves on the shrine grounds. 🍁