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。