Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu!!

Happy New Year!!! I celebrated with my friend Kanako and her parents by eating soba noodles and other traditional New Year's foods. Later her friend Anna took us to the harbor where we watched a fireworks show at midnight. Then we visited a shrine. Everyone goes to the shrine at the beginning of the year to pray for blessings for the coming year. It was a really interesting and an important part of Japanese culture to experience. My heart was saddened and I was compelled to pray as knees were bowed before false gods. I was thankful for such a great New Year's experience- definitely the most exciting New Year's I've ever celebrated!


People write prayers on blocks of wood and hang them on this wall at the shrine.