After Aiden's nap we ventured to Futenma Shrine. The Japanese begin each New Year by visiting a Shrine to respect tradition and bring good fortune to their families. We had no idea what we were in for. I just wanted to do something totally traditional Japanese.
Our directions lead us to what looked like just another city street. Only difference is that there were tons of people parked right in the road. We found a parking spot and followed the crowd. The sidewalks were filled with vendors selling food, good luck charms, and carnival games (Aiden was super excited about this).
We found the line and followed that to the Shrine gates where Japanese speaking guards were directing everyone. We weren't sure if we could take pictures so hopefully I'm painting a good enough picture for you to envision. There were people dressed in modern clothes and people decked out in Kimonos! We climbed some stairs to the opening (?) of the shrine. People stood here and threw money so that's what we did. They seemed to be praying or making wishes or both. Then we were directed in another direction...
They had a poster hanging with everyone's birth year and a corresponding number. ie: 1984 - 29, 1986 - 27, 2010 - 3 Each number was a good fortune gift which you could purchase. Daniel's a bracelet for 3000 yen, Aiden's a pretty cool arrow for 1500 yen, and mine a huge basket full of good fortune items for 30000 yen ($400)...needless to say I didn't buy mine, I hope that's not bad luck. We then got our fortunes...in English!
On our way out we tried Mochie. This variation was a savory one, I kinda wish it had been dessert. Aiden got to try a few of the carnival games resulting in him winning a blowup firetruck with wheels and a pull string (loves it) and a light up wand.
 |
| Mochie with terriyaki soy sauce and a cream sauce! Yummy! |
No comments:
Post a Comment