Gallery: PAW 2005-01
New Year's Day, Kyoto Japan - January 1, 2005
I o
pen the new year with some photographs from my visit to a Kyoto shrine on New Year's Day. Rather than hitting the larger shrines inside the city which were sure to be packed, my partner and I decided to go to a shrine on the western edge of Kyoto.
Each shrine in Japan usually has some "speciality" - from preventing car accidents to passing schools exams to propitious house building. Matsuo Taisha Jinja (english page) in Kyoto is known for preventing bad fortune (yakuyoke) and bringing in good fortune (kaiun). It's also one of the oldest Shinto shrines in the Kyoto area, dating to around 701c.e.
Even though we went fairly late in the day (arriving around 2pm), the shrine was filled with worshippers.
There are seven photographs in this series, be sure to scroll to the very bottom of this page to see them all.
Equipment: Canon 10D; EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L USM lens
Shinto Shrine Prayer Protocol (sanpai):
1. As you enter the giant red shrine gates (torii; see photo above) there will be a hand washing basin (chôzuya). Wash both hands as well as rinse your mouth. (There's a protocol here too, there should be a diagram showing you how).
2. Approach the shrine.
3. There should be a box to deposit money. In large events like New Year's, this is often a large tarp covered area such as the one below.
4. Ring the bell using the rope or red/white ribbons to get the shrine deity's attention.
5. Bow deeply twice.
6. Clap twice.
7. Pray.
8. Bow deeply.
More information here (Japanese).
People putting money into the giant tarp in front of the shrine. The bells and ropes and ribbons are visible as well. Most people put in about 100-500 yen but there were some thousand yen bills visible as well.
