New year activities

We didn't go to the Buddhist temple on the 31st to ring the bell - it was too cold so we watched "Twilight" instead. I fell asleep without even hearing the bells echoing across the valley. Next year.

We welcomed the first of the year by eating cold food at my in-law's. We visited our family's grave and that of my mother-in-law's family. Theirs has been reconstructed recently- everyone in that village agreed to rebuild their family tombs with the same maker in order to receive a discount, so they are all identical stones. So many people have the same last name- Nambu - it was hard to know which one was ours. I think we prayed for some distant cousin but I guess it is the thought that counts. Some really old tombs aren't even made of stone. They look like little storage boxes with a door for urns.

After that, we prayed at our little village shrine and its "parent" the town shrine. Maya paid for the lucky paper at the Jonan shrine but only got "tiny luck" this year. Taka got "little luck". The paper outlines what is predicted to happen during the year for health, school, travel, love etc. but it wasn't too great. We tied the papers on the trees anyway! Next we headed for the city shrine hoping for better luck, but it was so crowded it was as if everyone in Kumamoto was desperate for good luck. In 20 years, I've never seen such crowds for the Suizenji or Kengun shrines- traffic was backed up for hours. Maya found another source of luck at Suizenji- the paper gives the luck for your birthday. It was more promising and hopeful. Maybe some of that will come true!

New Year's is a time for "spring cleaning" for most families but for me, it is putting away the Christmas decorations. Many people wear new clothes to usher in the year or kimonos, although fewer and fewer families go to the trouble of dressing up. Traditionally stores are closed on Jan. 1 but the malls offer special year end sales so it was nothing short of madness near the major malls. The big fun is to pay a flat rate for a surprise bag full of stuff usually of good value, but too often you end up with a bunch of stuff you don't want. Not really my kind of gambling but it's a good way to get some gifts for next year.