2009 New Year's Day in Tokyo
Cold with Clear Skies
The New Year Holiday is one of the most important holidays in Japan. Prior to the Meiji Restoration, New Year's Day was celebrated according to the Chinese Lunar Calendar. However, Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar during the Meiji Restoration so Japan is the only Buddhist/Asian country to celebrate New Years on January 1.
Kadomatsu: Its placed at the entrance of buildings to bring good luck for the New Year
New Years Eve - Ohmisoka
Unlike Western cultures, New Year's Eve is traditionally a day of reflection and time to spend with family. It is the day where everything must be finished or wrapped up. I remember the banks being crowded when I was growing up in Japan on this day because people were in line to pay up their debts before the New Year. To prepare for Ohmisoka, December 30 is also a holiday so everyone can clean their house inside/out and complete unfinished business.
I had a friend visit me from the UK and the plan was to go to Asakusa temple before midnite to witness the ringing of the bells and to do a Hatsumode. The bell is rung 108 times as Buddhist believe people have 108 sins and by ringing the bell 108 times it washes away the sins so you start the new year "pure". Hatsumode is the first visit to the temple or shrine to say a prayer and is something that almost all Japanese do as part of New Year's traditions. They typically go to both a Shinto Shrine and Buddhist temple. I know this is strange to many Westerners but Buddhism is well integrated with Shinto-ism in Japan but that's another topic of discussion. Suffice it to say , that when Buddhism was introduced to Japan, the Imperial court led the integration of Buddhism with Shinto-ism. Thus its very common to find a Buddhist temple within the grounds of a Shinto shrine. So one goes to the Buddhist temple to pray to Buddha and then goes to one of the Shinto shrines to pray to the many Shinto gods or "kami's".
However, before we were to venture out, we went to the Mandarin Oriental hotel where I was treated to 1/2 day's worth of spa treatments. It was a wonderful experience. We then had an early dinner at the hotel and planned on taking a nap before venturing out. Well the nap turned into a deep sleep as both of us were jet lagged ( I came in from the States and he came from the UK) so we slept passed midnite and missed all the festivities! Oh well! Maybe next year. Thus no photos!
Skipper, Yuki and me on the way to the Mandarin Oriental
New Years Day
First Sunrise of the Year
New Year's Day began with a scare... My darling dog Skipper woke up around 3am and immediately had a seizure. I So my first word for 2009 was "F***!" I thought he was OK so we saw the first sunrise of the year from the rooftop garden of my building but he had 2 more seizures during the day. We had planned on doing our Hatsumode but instead had to call the Vet on his emergency line. Fortunately I have a very sweet Vet who drove out to my house on New Year's Day - the most important holiday in Japan - to pick up Skipper and take him to the hospital. So we spent New Year's Day at the Vet hospital waiting for all of the test results for Skipper.
The tests showed that he has issues with his liver and has congenital heart disease due to his old age (he'll be 15 this year!). The Vet wanted to keep him one more day for observations but said with the new medication and his will to live a good life, he should be able to live a good life for a year or even 2 years!
Perhaps this is why Skipper ended up in the hospital?
I felt much better emotionally but since it was getting late, we decided to head back to my house and have traditional Japanese New Year's food. I first made Toshikoshi soba. Toshikoshi means "leaving the old year and entering the new year" and is supposed to be eaten midnite on New Year's eve. Well, since we slept through it, we had it for dinner. I made the tempura which I have to say turned out well.
The rest of the night, we made osenchi ryori which is a special selection of food for New Years. I made a shrimp and lotus root tempura, Japanese style fried chicken, roasted vegetable salad and a wild green salad with sesame dressing. As we planned on going out to some fancy restaurants for Jan 2,3 and 4, I did not do an elaborate osenchi for this year.
Toshikoshi Soba
Osenchi Ryori - what I made was very basic. Most people make 10 or more dishes and it is displayed in beautiful lacquer boxes.
January 2, 3 and 4
Since we missed the New Year's Eve and Day festivities, we spent the rest of the week visiting temples,shrines and gardens around Tokyo. We also managed to do some shopping where my friend bought a very expensive camera.
We did our Hatsumode at the Hie Jinja near my house. Hie Jinja is a Shinto shrine and houses the guardian deity of the Imperial Palace. Before WWII, when Shinto was the official religion of Japan, it was one of the most important shrines in Japan. It was destroyed during WWII but was rebuilt in the 1950s with private donations. There are many statues of monkeys at the Hie Shrine. This is because the central deity of Hie shrines are Sanno which is the mountain king and the sacred messenger is the monkey.
We followed the Shinto etiquette to do our Hatsumode and first washed our hands and mouth with the sacred water. We then went to altar where we rang the bell, made an offering, bowed deeply twice, clapped our hands twice and then bowed deeply once.
We then went to the Myogonji Temple/Shrine which is nearby and one of my favorite temple/shrines. It is an Inari shrine which houses a Buddhist temple. Inari is the goddess of rice and harvest and her messenger is the fox. Thus there are many fox statues on the grounds. Interestingly, most Japanese do not distinguish between the Inari goddess and the Fox messenger and they have been amalgamated to one deity. Apparently, the Inari lore is very complicated but one can say that it represents a hybrid Buddhist/Shinto deity.
Hie Jinja ( I was tired and didn't have my "nice" camera so all the photos are a bit crooked)
Monkeys at Hie Jinja
Blessing of an arrow to bring good luck for business at Hie Jinja
To exit the shrine you go through a pathway line with Tori's
Myogonji Zen Buddhist Temple
Inari Shrines at Myogonji
I burned some incense for Skipper, Yuki-chan and Professor
Although the New Year began with a scare, Skipper came back from the hospital in good spirits and I managed to have a good time once I knew he was OK. So Yuki, Skipper and I are looking forward to a fun and loving 2009!
Skipper back from the Hospital and enjoying chicken livers in his new dinner bowl that Jackson made
Yuki-chan enjoying her New Years meal in her bowl that Jackson made
Cool Moon Over Tokyo
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