is the first Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine visit of the

Japanese New Year The is an annual festival with its own customs. Since 1873, the official Japanese New Year has been celebrated according to the Gregorian calendar, on January 1 of each year, . However, some traditional events of the Japanese New Year are par ...

. Many visit on the first, second, or third day of the year as most are off work on those days. Generally, wishes for the new year are made, new ''

omamori are Japanese amulets commonly sold at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, dedicated to particular Shinto as well as Buddhist figures, and are said to provide various forms of luck and protection. Origin and usage The word means 'protect ...

'' (charms or amulets) are bought, and the old ones are returned to the shrine so they can be

cremated Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre i ...

. There are often long lines at major shrines throughout Japan. Most of the people in Japan outside of the retail and emergency services professions are off work from December 29 until January 3 of every year. It is during this time that the house is cleaned, debts are paid, friends and family are visited and gifts are exchanged. It would be customary to spend the early morning of New Year's Day in domestic worship, followed by consumption of

sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...

(

toso , or ''o-toso'', is spiced medicinal sake traditionally drunk during Japanese New Year celebrations. Culture Toso is drunk to flush away the previous year's maladies and to aspire to lead a long life. For generations it has been said that "if ...

) and special celebration food (e.g.

osechi Osechi-ryōri (御節料理, お節料理 or おせち) are traditional Japanese New Year foods. The tradition started in the Heian period (794–1185). ''Osechi'' are easily recognizable by their special boxes called '' jūbako'' (重箱), whi ...

zōni , often with the honorific "o-" as ''o-zōni'', is a Japanese soup containing ''mochi'' rice cakes. The dish is strongly associated with the Japanese New Year and its tradition of ''osechi'' ceremonial foods. The preparation of zōni varies bo ...

). The act of worship is generally quite brief and individual and may involve queuing at popular shrines. Some shrines and temples have millions of visitors over the three days. Sensoji temple in Tokyo is the most popular one.

Meiji Shrine , is a Shinto shrine in Shibuya, Tokyo, that is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken. The shrine does not contain the emperor's grave, which is located at Fushimi-momoyama, south of Kyoto. History A ...

for example had 3.45 million visitors in 1998, and in the first three days of January 2010, 3.2 million people visited Meiji Jingū, 2.98 million

Narita-san Narita-san (成田山 "Narita mountain") Shinshō-ji ( 新勝寺 "New victory temple") is a Shingon Buddhist temple located in central Narita, Chiba, Japan. It was founded in 940 by Kanchō Daisōjō, a disciple of Kōbō Daishi. It is a lead ...

, 2.96 million

Kawasaki Daishi is the popular name of , a Buddhist temple in Kawasaki, Japan. Founded in 1128, it is the headquarters of the Chizan sect of Shingon Buddhism. Kawasaki Daishi is a popular temple for ''hatsumōde'' (the first visit to a place of worship in ...

, 2.7 million

Fushimi Inari-taisha is the head shrine of the ''kami'' Inari, located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. The shrine sits at the base of a mountain also named Inari which is above sea level, and includes trails up the mountain to many smaller shrines ...

, and 2.6 million

Sumiyoshi Taisha , also known as Sumiyoshi Grand Shrine, is a Shinto shrine in Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is the main shrine of all the Sumiyoshi shrines in Japan. However, the oldest shrine that enshrines the Sumiyoshi sanjin, the thr ...

. Other popular destinations include

Atsuta Jingū is a Shinto shrine traditionally believed to have been established during the reign of Emperor Keikō (71-130) located in Atsuta-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture in Japan. The shrine is familiarly known as ''Atsuta-Sama'' (Venerable Atsuta) or si ...

Tsurugaoka Hachimangū is the most important Shinto shrine in the city of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The shrine is a cultural center of the city of Kamakura and serves as the venue of many of its most important festivals with two museums. For most of its ...

Dazaifu Tenman-gū Dazaifu may refer to: * Dazaifu, Fukuoka, a city in northern Kyūshū * Dazaifu (government) The is a Japanese term for the regional government in Kyushu from the 8th to the 12th centuries. The name may also refer to the seat of government which ...

, and Hikawa Shrine. A common custom during ''hatsumōde'' is to buy a written oracle called ''

omikuji are random fortunes written on strips of paper at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Japan. Literally "sacred lot", these are usually received by making a small offering and randomly choosing one from a box, hoping for the resulting fort ...

''. If your ''omikuji'' predicts bad luck you can tie it onto a tree on the shrine grounds, in the hope that its prediction will not come true. The ''omikuji'' goes into detail, and tells you how you will do in various areas in your life, such as business and love, for that year, in a similar way to horoscopes in the West. Often a good-luck charm comes with the ''omikuji'' when you buy it, that is believed to summon good luck and money your way. Shrines make much of their money in the first week or two of the year.

References

Shinto New Year in Japan Shinto and society Buddhism and society {{Shinto-stub

See also

References