Jan. 7, 2010
Japanese start New Year with prayer for happiness
Japanese start New Year with prayer for happiness
Many Japanese start their New Year’s life by paying worship at shrines and temples related to their communities and jobs. Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine of Kamakura, south of Tokyo, attracted hundreds of thousands of worshipers in the first week of the year.
Built by Minamoto Yoritomo, Japan’s first samurai shogun of the late 12th century, the shrine was flooded with so many worshipers that police officers were busy controlling flows of people and vehicles in the neighboring areas. People moved on slowly in a long line on the approach toward the main building of the shrine which stands above a steep stairway. They had to wait for their turn to worship behind a police line set up in front of the stairs.
An elderly person in the crowd was talking to a young guy standing by him “I wonder how many steps are right there. Do you know that, young man?” “I don’t know exactly, but maybe, more than 50, sir. You don’t have to hurry, any way.” After paying worship for the god of the shrine, people draw "omikuji” fortune lots. After reading the sacred oracles written on small pieces of omikuji paper, they fold them and tie them to strings set at several places around the main building.
At Egara Tenjin, a Kamakura shrine which is dedicated to a historical figure admired as the god of scholarship, youngsters, accompanied by their parents, were seen seriously praying for help to pass school entrance exams. Honkakuji Temple, which hosts the Ebisu god of commerce, attracted shopowners and other business-related people hoping to buy “fukusasa” New Year's decorations of bamboo leaves from "fukumusume" maidens.
The New Year has begun today;
At Egara Tenjin, a Kamakura shrine which is dedicated to a historical figure admired as the god of scholarship, youngsters, accompanied by their parents, were seen seriously praying for help to pass school entrance exams. Honkakuji Temple, which hosts the Ebisu god of commerce, attracted shopowners and other business-related people hoping to buy “fukusasa” New Year's decorations of bamboo leaves from "fukumusume" maidens.
The New Year has begun today;
snow accumulates to herald the arrival of the new spring.
I wish you an accumulation of happy events
just like the snowfalls.
(A personal translation)
This is a waka poem composed by Otomo Yakamochi, an eighth century court official known as the editor of Japan’s oldest waka poem anthology Manyoshu. Yakamochi was born to a prestigious family, but he lost his position in a feud with his rivals to be demoted to governor of a remote province. The verse, which comes at the end of the 20-volume poem anthology, was made in his days of adversity. He was throwing a New Year’s party for his followers at the governor’s residence. Yakamochi was later called back to the capital, but he could not obtain an influential position.
(A personal translation)
This is a waka poem composed by Otomo Yakamochi, an eighth century court official known as the editor of Japan’s oldest waka poem anthology Manyoshu. Yakamochi was born to a prestigious family, but he lost his position in a feud with his rivals to be demoted to governor of a remote province. The verse, which comes at the end of the 20-volume poem anthology, was made in his days of adversity. He was throwing a New Year’s party for his followers at the governor’s residence. Yakamochi was later called back to the capital, but he could not obtain an influential position.
The more desperate one's fate is, the more seriously he or she prays to the god for help. The severer the economic situation for Japan is, the more people turn out to visit shrines and temples for the New Year’s worship. It is far from certain when Japan will pull out of the current economic woes, but many bright faces were seen among people who braved the chilly weather to visit shrines and temples in Kamakura.
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