the New Year - with pics

Putting up our New Years decoration (Shimekazari, I think) from Nao - thank you Nao!

2010 is the year of the Tiger, and even though the Japanese no longer follow the Chinese lunar calendar, the zodiac signs and years are clearly important here. There are posters and figurines and postcards and all sorts of tiger paraphernalia all over the place, as I'm sure are the jokes about Tiger Woods, and whether or not this is his year. There are 12 Chinese zodiac signs - rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig - that correspond to each year of the important 12-year cycle in the Chinese calendar. The tiger is a sign of bravery, and those born under its sign are (maybe) more inclined to be powerful, independent, bold, friendly and loving, and sometimes selfish and short-tempered. They will likely seek attention and power, and probably live a little bit dangerously (ooooooh); they are intolerant, take risks, are courageous, and, are natural leaders. They are also a lot of other things that I'm sure are somehow contradictory... but I suppose that this is quite normal. (After all, I'm a Gemini... I'm hoping it's normal.) So, if you were born in 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986 or 1998 you may recognize some of these characteristics in yourself.... ? I'm a year of the horse girl, and after reading about year of the horse people ("active and energetic","born to race or travel"), I suggest you look up your sign and see if there's any truth to it.

Big BIG crowds at Meiji-jingu on January 1st - and big crowd control too...


And so the year of the tiger is rolling on in, and along with hoards and throngs of other people we've followed some important beginning-of-the-year traditions. We braved the crowds yesterday and visited Meiji-jingu (the first three days of 2009 saw 3. 19 million people pass through its gates) where we saw money throwing and praying and some seriously organized crowd control. We all agreed that it was the most people we've ever seen in our lives in one place at one time - craaaazy. And today Steve went back to work (mrrrr), and the rest of us visited the Imperial Palace where there was more crowd control and security; January 2nd and December 23rd are the only days the inner palace grounds are open to the public. And so, there was, once again, a very big crowd of (very) small people. At least compared to us they were small... there was a sizable shadow of emptiness behind the five of us as we waited for over an hour to see Emperor Akihito and some of his family members. The plaza was packed, and out they came to a rumble of waving flags and quiet and attention. He waved, gave a short speech, waved some more, and then we (45,000 plus people) were slowly herded outwards and onwards. It was pretty amazing, and such a neat experience to be a part of.

The Imperial Palace, January 2nd

Marg, Ralph, me, Barb and Bob waiting for the Emperor

And voila!
When he was finished talking, the crowd did a quarter turn and then slowly shuffled out of the plaza

I haven't even said anything about New Years Eve!!! Eeeeeep! Okay, well... We started with a delicious laid-out-on-the-table feast (very German) of sausage, potatoes, sauerkraut and red cabbage - the metre-long meal. (This is a sort of tradition: in Tenerife we frequented a German restaurant that served up metres of sausage on a long cutting board speckled with carrots and fries and cabbage. Yum. The fab four visited us there, and it was unforgettable - especially to a particular Señor Ralph.) After some quiet, we donned quickly assembled party hats, did the choo-choo train around the kitchen, and then made for a mid-sized shrine on Komazawa-dori.

Besides the smashing of a beer can outside the main gate, we observed the goings-ons like most of the other visitors, quietly and reverently. There was a very large fire going, fueled by worries and wishes - I mentioned this earlier, but people fill envelopes with notes, and/or throw talismans on the fire - pine branches, bamboo ropes, and anything that is symbolic of something desired. Beside the high-rising flames was a small platform adorned with a bell and five monks/priests. I'm not sure how long they were there for, but when we arrived at 11:40ish, they chanted for another five minutes or so, rang the massive, suspended bell, and then slowly filed away from the platform and into the shrine itself. There was a bit of clapping and a loud murmur at midnight, and then the bell was rang again and again and again, and almost all throughout the night. It was sounded 108 times in total, and is meant to cleanse the 108 Buddhist sins such as greed and anger. Since the shrine was smaller, locals had bought tickets (I think), and lined up to ring the bell themselves. The line-up to get into the shrine snaked around the grounds, and just kept getting longer... very cool. There was a taiko performance (drums), which was also really neat, and after spending another ten or fifteen minutes soaking up the magic of the experience, we headed for the hills. It was a FABULOUS way to ring in the new year (paaaah), and so neat to do it with visitors. The fab four headed off to catch some of Steve's practice this morning, and then were making their way to Asakusa and then Akihabara before heading back home tonight. Busy busy busy... I got a solid run in, and am now procrastinating - I have errands to run. Last thing - two days ago we saw a dog, a teeny dog, wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket. I kid you not. Shocking!

New Years hats!

New Years TRAIN



Champagne time when we got home - Happy New Years!