Hatsumoude
We interrupt the much-delayed Comiket coverage to wish you a belated Happy New Year! 新年明けましておめでとうございます! While saner people were enjoying the company of their family and friends on New Year’s Eve in the comfort of their homes, I was wandering around Sensouji (浅草寺) to have a look at the infamous midnight queue of people hoping to be among the first to perform hatsumoude (first shrine visit of the year) at the shrine.
Sensouji (浅草寺) is a Buddhist temple that basically defines the entire existence of Asakusa (浅草). Interestingly, I did not notice that the two names share the same kanji pronounced differently until recently. The outermost entrance to the temple is the Kaminarimon (雷門), a mystical gateway to a walkway of tourist traps leading right up to the temple itself.
In Japan, Buddhism and Shintoism underwent centuries of cross-pollination and are pretty similar to each other, sort of like Linux distros. The Buddhist temples are called tera (寺) while the Shinto shrines are called jinja (神社), and ostensibly they worship different gods, but generally people go to them to do the same things — namely omikuji, throwing coins into donation boxes, and buying omamori. (As far as I can tell anyway; it’s not like I took a course in Japanese Religions or anything.)
So what’s so special about hatsumoude as compared to a normal shrine visit? Well, nothing actually. You still do the same things. The only difference is that the once deserted temple/shrine is now filled with a few thousand other people. It’s awesome.
Okay, it is also a rather festive occasion, with food and handicraft stalls setting up temporary camp around the perimeter of the temple. It’s sort of like natsumatsuri, except in winter. Since people from all over Kantou (and no doubt beyond) come to Sensouji — one of the more prominent places of worship in Japan — for hatsumoude, business is obscenely good for these opportunistic hawkers.
Around midnight, the hatsumoude queue for Sensouji stretched all the way from the temple to Kaminarimon and continued on for god knows how far down the T-junction road in front of the gate. The roads around the area were closed off by the Metropolitan Police and there were tons of police and fire department officers on the scene to manage the queue.
Although I did queue overnight for Winter Comiket once back when I was young and foolish, I had since grown saner and wisely decided against queuing for hours in the cold just to throw a few coins into a box.
My plan was to walk around and take some pictures before returning in the morning when (I thought) the place would be empty. Surprisingly, the queue actually managed to retain the same length right into the afternoon of the 1st, and I only managed to do my hatsumoude at around 7pm. I prayed for world peace, of course.
For the entire day, the area around my hostel in Asakusa was flooded with people who just completed their prayers, and for some inexplicable reason, a large number of them were speaking Chinese. (I actually walked into a Matsuya gyuudon chain store in the morning and discovered that 12 out of the 16 customers were Chinese speakers.)
On a completely serious note, the entire experience was actually just like Comiket. The police officers managed the queue using the exact same techniques that Comiket organizers do. There were regular breaks along the queue which allowed pedestrians to get to the other side, while police officers lined perimeters to prevent cutting. Hell, the temple was even selling a “limited edition” ofuda (お札) that is only available for the New Year period…
So yeah, hatsumoude is like Comiket for regular people.
On another note, I got sueshoukichi (末小吉) for my omikuji which, according to Hatena Keyword, is the worst possible level of kichi (good luck) one can get without entering into kyou (bad luck) region… Apparently sueshoukichi is so rare that the chance of getting it is 3% and many shrines do not even include it as one of the possible results. Woot, go me! >_<
Incidentally, the number of the stick that fell out of the omikuji container thingy is the same as the day of my birth date. Coincidence? I think so.
I actually went to Meiji Shrine in Shibuya today. Will blog about that at a (much) later date.
Also, I have just about enough money left to survive my remaining stay if I spend on nothing but (cheap) food and transportation. I walked 4km from Akihabara Metro Station to Sakura Hostel in Asakusa today…
January 2nd, 2009 at 11:54 pm
Wow this is the first full post of yours I’ve read in ages haha. Why are the pictures of the stalls devoid of people; wasn’t it very crowded there even in the evening when you returned?
January 2nd, 2009 at 11:59 pm
” Apparently sueshoukichi is so rare that the chance of getting it is 3% and many shrines do not even include it as one of the possible results.”
Maybe you’re actually -really- lucky to get it -.-
「もう限界にだから、ここから運はきっとどんどん上がる。」
That’s what someone told me when I got a 末吉.
January 3rd, 2009 at 12:08 am
Not suprise, its their holiday now oso….
queues everywhere in jp, same here oni shorter…
Enjoy ur winter stay…i
January 3rd, 2009 at 1:10 am
I was there in Sensoji back in November when it was less crowded. Pity I didn’t time my trip to coincide with the shichigosan festival.
January 3rd, 2009 at 2:25 am
How long are u staying there? Wat is that shit thingy?
January 3rd, 2009 at 1:21 pm
At the end of every trip…money runs low…I know…
I wanted to go for something like that but sadly I didn’t due to the time I have in Japan…9 days isn’t enough…
Still, really nice…I must plan this when I go to Japan in the summer…
January 3rd, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Ah!…. I wish I could live in Japan. Hi I was wondering if I can add your blog to my blogroll if you dont mind. I find your blog enjoyable to read ^_^
January 4th, 2009 at 7:57 am
lol isn’t drawing 末小吉 more like drawing some ultra super rare collectors card?
3% chance. DM you’re awesome! >_<m/
and why do the have an extra entrance for Shion? oO is this some sort of Higurashi ネタthing going on there or am I utterly mistaken?
January 5th, 2009 at 4:10 am
Was that a… hunkadookie? OH GEEZ!!!
I must say, that part with the puppet show cracked me up.
January 5th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
Man it looks one heck of a new year… relative to mine ^^;
January 6th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
it looks so much like China!
anyways why would chinese people go to japan even though most of them hate the japanese just as much as the british hating prime numbers.
the last image, was that a Caucasian person?
i just found out that the girl with turquoise hair is not an anime character.
-
Leeks are dangerous weapons.
January 7th, 2009 at 12:50 am
Comiket for normal people lol.
January 31st, 2009 at 12:15 am
Haha… would have scrolled passed that picture if I hadn’t read your caption. “観音様入口”… Hilarious indeed.