New Year’s in Kyoto: A World Heritage Hatsumode
Happy New Year!
Thanks in advance for viewing the KINSHA staff blog this year, too!
In Kyoto there are a whopping 17 World Heritage Sites. Last year’s blog featured a New Year’s dish showdown, but this year I thought we’d start off 2015 with a World Heritage Site: Kamomioya Jinja, more commonly known as Shimogamo Shrine!
Before I jump into the Shimogamo Shrine introduction, let me tell you of one Japanese New Year’s tradition that is hatsumode. Hatsumode is the year’s first pilgrimage to a Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple to pray for the year’s happiness. When Japanese people hear the word hatsumode, the tend to think of going up to the shrine’s honden, or main hall, ringing the bell, and clapping their hands before falling into a prayer, but in my research I found lots of other customs in addition to this.
① Give back old talismans and charms
I learned this recently, but in actuality the charms that you buy at shrines (called Omori) are supposed to be changed every year. When your charm’s wish, such as passing a test or conceiving a child, comes true, you are supposed to pay a visit to the shrine.
② Give wooden plaque offerings
It is said that your wish will be granted if you write it down on a wooden plaque as an offering.
③ Purchase and receive hamaya
Hamaya are a New Year’s lucky charm: arrows that are said to have the power to ward off evil.
④ Purchase lucky charms
In Japan, a baby’s first New Year’s is called “hatsu shogatsu.” It varies depending on the region, but it is customary to present boys with hamaya and girls with battledores (a traditional Japanese badminton-like paddle). Both are lucky charms that ward off evil and grant sound health.
⑤ Draw omikuji & offer them back
Just about every Japanese person has drawn omikuji, or fortune slips. It depends on the shrine, but some believe that if you get an unlucky fortune, you should tie your slip to the shrine’s tree or wire wall, and if the fortune is good, you leave take it home with you; there are also those who tie both good and bad fortunes.
⑥ Go straight home after your hatsumode
Tradition says that you should go straight home so as not to spill a drop of your good fortune. In the old days, unlike now, stores were not open on January 1st, so you were to hold your talismans and charms close and return straight home.
Shimogamo Shrine is called the shrine of good marriage and beauty. When I passed through the so-called “power spot” that is Tadasu no Mori, the forest of the shrine, I was greeted by a brilliantly colored torii. The shrine offers marriage fortunes not only for women but also for men, and all the pilgrims on this day were buzzing with excitement. My friend carefully chose an omikuji box and shook it with all her heart. When she told the miko (or priestess) the number she drew and received her fortune slip, it featured an illustration of a woman clothed in a cute kimono. When she opened up her fortune, it was reminiscent of The Tale of Genji; illustrations of a man dressed in ceremonial court robes and a woman in a 12-layer kimono decorated the page.
Each omikuji features stories that fit with the illustrations, and Hikaru Genji’s (the protagonist of The Tale of Genji) song is included in beautiful lettering. The song in the picture below was composed by Hikaru Genji out of worship to Shimogamo Shrine.
Right off to the side is the aioisha, or the mini-shrine of good marriage, and next to it is the special Renri no Sakaki tree. This sacred tree is actually made of two trees intertwined mid-way up to combine into one tree. It is said to be a symbol of good marriage, safe birth and child rearing, and safety and peace within the household. When the tree grows old and dies, it is said that its heir is born in the Tadasu no Mori forest. Pictured is supposedly the fourth-generation tree. I could really understand why this is called a “power spot.”
On the way back, I sipped on amazake, or sweetened rice wine. It included freshly ground ginger that gently warmed the body.
How did you spend your New Year? Before visiting Kyoto shrines, I recommend researching what shrines have what blessings. The method of pilgrimage varies from god to god, so you might just increase your fortune by knowing your stuff.