New Year's Day in Japan...

Monday, New Year's Day, I decided to go for a walk.  It was a beautiful day outside and I wanted to visit a shrine and see what goes on.   I knew that Japanese people (Shinto or not) usually visit a shrine on New Year's Day to ring the bell, give an offering, and maybe buy a fortune.  I decided to follow the route of the Historical Walking Tour of Kofu that was marked on the map I had gotten from the TIC when I first got here.  The route took me through or past several different shrines, temples, and tombs, terminating at the Shingen Takeda Shrine in the far North of town.  I had been warned that the Shingen Takeda Shrine was always very busy on New Year's Day but I have to say that I was still not prepared for what was to come.

I joined the route at the Chouzenji Temple, not far from my house.  The Temple grounds were huge and so beautiful!  I came across a man in the ancient graveyard who pointed out the grave of Shingen Takeda's mother and told me about some of the headstones and things.  (This conversation was entirely in Japanese but I think I got most of it...)  The graveyard was the best part.  I think this is a place I would like to come to study or read--when it gets a bit warmer.  This was my favourite part of the whole walk.

So that was my Monday

From there, the route wound its way up the base of Mount Atago (where I walked a few weekends ago) and to an observation platform, which, according to the huge sign, is important to everyone.  I'm not sure why as it didn't seem to have much historical significance that I could see (it was built in 2005) and the view was really not that great either.  It was looking the wrong direction to see Mount Fuji and was really not that high to begin with.

More winding and I passed several small temples, shrines, and graveyards that weren't on the map.  At this time, the little posts that were guiding my way stopped appearing so I just wandered around going in the direction of anything that looked interesting to me until I met up with a post again.

At one of the small temple graveyards there was a family lighting incense, praying, and doing some ceremonious looking things at one of the graves.  I didn't want to intrude so I don't really know what they were doing.  Some of it involved a small plastic bucket with kanji written on it and a laddle attached...

I then went by old Shingen's tomb.  It was a really neat little spot. He was the only one there and it was a tiny little shelter with a white stone walkway and little statues and carvings around.  There was also a place for burning incense and lots of flowers!

From here I was hurriedly heading toward the final destination, cutting out all the side trips.  I wanted to make sure I got to the Takeda Shingen Shrine before it was too dark to take good pictures.  I was sure it was going to be amazing.

I passed by a mid-sized shrine with many people milling around and lots of cars in the parking lot.  There were little stands with official Shrine workers selling--well, not selling.  A shrine shouldn't sell things so they offer you a small gift if you give a specified donation) traditional New Years things (what I assume to be offerings).  There was also a big bonfire with people starting to settle in around it.

After taking a few pictures, I kept going full speed to get to the coveted Takeda Shrine.  As I walked the few minutes of winding roads between the two shrines, I passed several people coming in the opposite direction.  It seemed to me that the prefered route was to visit Takeda's shrine for some sort of daytime offering and then head to the smaller one for the bonfire and evening celebration.

As I turned a corner on the tiny street I saw a crowd so big that I felt like I was back in Tokyo!  I have never seen so many in Kofu.  The city only has a population of about 200,000 and I think they were all there!  Far from the sober ceremony I had seen at the smaller shrines, the crowd was lined up at the tiny yellow tents selling everything from yakisoba and tempura to chocolate covered bananas, candy apples, and even cotton candy!  This is definitely more of a social gathering than a religious one!  And the line to get to the shrine was 8 people wide packed in all the way down the street.

I figured that since I wasn't praying and really just wanted some good photos (did I mention that I was the only gaijin there) of what promised to be a beautiful shrine, I went up the back way (the entrance to the toilets) and saw what was going on.  Everyone slowly shuffled up to a white plastic baracade that had been built so they couldn't actually get near the shrine steps (you can't go inside shrines--you just pray and give and offering at an altar at the top of the steps).  Once at the front, people would throw a few coins over and bow repeatedly and then move on to buy offerings, fortunes, and more snacks.

I was very disappointed with the decor of the shrine.  I have seen much nicer shrines that seem much holier than this place!  And the hoardes of devotees throwing shopping bags full of purchased offerings into a giant bin and coins over a blockade wasn't exactly the humble gift of a bowl of uncooked rice I had expected.

Two things I definitely did not expect to see at a shrine.  Number one:  A robotic dragon that does a dance while choosing a fortune from a pile of many and dropping it into a slot (only 200 yen).  Number Two:  A Hello Kitty statue!!  Number three:  a row of carnival-style food shops 10 times bigger than the one at Fuji-Q Highlands Amusement Park!!

As I headed south back down the main street, the cars that I passed were literally not moving.  It took me about 1/2 hour to get to back to the station and not one car moved an inch.  I saw several people returning from the convenience store to their running cars still parked where they had left them in the middle of traffic!

This is an amusement park society.  I have come to the conclusion that Japanese people like being surrounded by crowds.  They like waiting in long lines and not moving their cars for hours on end.  They have taken what was historically a sacred visit to pray for prosperity and happiness in the coming year and turned it into a carnival.  I am certainly no Shinto purist and I am not passing judgement.  I am simply saying that for them to have done that, they must enjoy the gaudiness of robotic dragons and glow sticks and the cozy conditions of an hour or more waiting in line to pray...

So that was my Monday.

Tomorrow, ice skating at Kose Park...