Monday, January 1, 2018

Happy New Year 2018 from「Visual Anthropology of Japan」


These first 4 shots are from my local Shinto shrine a few minutes after midnight; it was packed with neighbors ringing in the new year, offering their new year's prayers, discarding old amulets, buying new amulets, getting a sip of sacred sake and exchanging greetings.




This year the omiki was served in paper cups rather than the usual choko - another reminder of how culture and traditions change to make things more convenient...


I visited the shrine again in the afternoon on New Year's Day and the shrine was empty - a solemn quiet very different from the festive midnight mood several hours earlier.



It seems that a visitor was a bit late to discard their old amulet but felt confident enough to discard it in the metal barrel so it would be burned at a later time.

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2018 is the Year of the Dog. Perhaps it might be fitting to celebrate with Temple of the Dog. My recommendations are below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUb450Alpps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgsg9xfsSoc

RIP Chris Cornell (July 20, 1964 – May 17, 2017).

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VAOJ wishes everyone a happy and healthy 2018. 明けましておめでとうございます。今年もよろしくお願いします。

1 comment:

Nayeem said...

明けましておめでとうございます私の日本人の友人や井戸職人全員に...