New years is big in Japan. It's all about refreshing the slate and going forth into new times. Lunar and horoscope belief is strong not unlike India too.
The time of year is about New Years Eve with family and friends and eating lots of specialty foods and then visiting a shrine at some point around New Years. It's not about the mid-night countdown as much as western culture but rather hinode Sunrise, of the dawn of the new day where upon you can make a wish for the new year. If anything, Japan is called the Land of the Rising Sun. From origins of Ancient civilizations believing that Japan was the first continent to see the sun, to be awaken by the sun, their reverence of the flaming ball definitely justifies the namesake regardless.
So after the speciality foods of NYE, what actually happens at midnight? Primarily a visit to a shrine.
Some bigger cities see the party scene that happens in the west with everyone watching a clock. But for the most part, people still do the religious stuff.
At midnight we went to Toyokawa Inari. A very famous shine nearby which is themed around the fox who provided messages to the Deity of agriculture. Absolutely beautiful shrine with fox statues set up everwhere. You can walk through a path into the forest and see hundreds of them all wearing red and it was amazing to see I will never forget it. So surreal and calming. As a religion, Buddhism-shinto hybrid compared to christianity feels more like a guidebook instead of a rule book and I quite like it's flexibility.
The shrine was absolutely packed. They had crowd control employed and loud speakers and parking guidance. The line went all the way down the street full of people there to pay their respects to their deities.
Once we got in & made a prayer at the main temple we lined up to collect our "horoscope" for the year ahead.
Circulating through the throng of people was a small wooden box with a small hole at the bottom large enough for a single wooden stick to fall out of with a number written on it. I shook the box randomly and pulled out a number. That number corresponded to a tiny drawer in a cabinet which had a whole bunch of fortunes in it.
The translation that I can remember was pretty much this:
a)this year will be an average year, not bad, not fantastic.
b)money will not be in huge quantities this year, but be patient.
c)good year to consider marriage, and starting a business in something to do with timber, or thread.
d)you are often right, but you need to learn to be more humble and treat losers with more humility.
e)Someone of authority will help you this year lots, ensure you respect & reciprocate.
f)This year you will gain knowledge above all else.
g)What you look for you will find, but it will be found only after you stop looking so hard.
h)Sometimes there are better ways of doing something but you should learn to not speak
Pretty cool huh? More accurate than I think I even know. Maybe I should start listening to the stars.
After reading them we tied them up on a wire & made our way back out of the crowds to home to have a few hours rest before sunrise.
