JAPANESE NEW YEAR!

はい！皆さん、こにちわ！

今週の手紙のために日本語だけ書いています！

ごめんね、

冗談です！！！

eigode

In English. 

Okay!!! 

SO.... THIS WEEK WAS NEW YEARS!

So, in America, Christmas happens to be the big deal. As I expressed previously, this is no so in Japan. So  this may be true, but for New Years, (pause for effect) it's a different story. 

The story starts as thus: 

We got a call from the Zone Leaders, informing us that this week would be the week of all 0's. We laughed. 

Monday, we bought cleaning supplies. 

1st Japanese tradition: The new year's clean. Okisoji. Big Clean. Tuesday we went to town on the apartment. We were told to cut language study from our morning schedule in order to get all of the cleaning done. There was scraping of shower mold, and organizing of pamphlets that I didn't know existed. It was intense. 

Wednesday was the new years day: Our instructions were to find someone to go to a jinjya with.

Wind at the Ocean

(A Japanese Shrine) and have a culture learning experience. So. We did. Three days in a row with different people... 

1st- branch members took us. The night before it was storming like crazy. It carried on. There was icy rain and the loudest kaminari (lighting/thunder- in japan they are the same word because they're always so close to you that they happen at the same time!) that I've ever heard in my life. Windows shook and the sound wave shot though us all. It looked nice at first. 

2nd- We went with an investigator to a shrine in the mountains. It's apparently the biggest shrine in Tsuruoka. (I probably told you this but, Tsuruoka means Crane Hill) There was snow, creepy statues, and... snow. (also giant bells). He also took us to the ocean, where we went on this Island Shrine across this bimiyo bridge. I have never seen waves like that in my entire life. If you fall... you die. yay. 

3rd- We went with a young, just barely married, PI couple. Ryottaro and Mami. They explained all of the reasons for the different things we did at the shrine. We got our fortunes for this is. Dai kuchi. be jealous.  

Here's how you... um... do.. the shrine thingy. And apparently it's different depending on where you go in Japan. So here's the Tsuruoka way. 

So you first get your family to come with you. New Years a holiday all about family. 

Next you enter the shrine area.

You walk though a giant gate called a Tori gate. This represents leaving this world, with all of it's cares and worries, and entering into a different one. You don't walk directly though the gate, but rather on the sides. The center is for God(s?) to enter and leave. Though Ryottaro told us many Japanese people don't know this. 

Next is the washing.

Brother Sato does a good explanation of this, and I also got a video of Olsen Choro and I washing ourselves in the frozen ice of the mountain jinjya. 

There's this alter like table fountain thing with a slowly dripping constant stream of water flowing into it (sometimes out of dragons mouths, sometime out of bamboo, kinda different at each shrine). The water pools and there are a bunch of ladle like things, most often made of wood, resting on a pole going across the water. 

You fill the ladle with water from the pool, and pour it on your left hand, then your right, and then scoop some water in your hand, and wash around (or inside) your mouth. (inside was drinking and spitting it out) 

Ryottaro (who doesn't know anything about our church or Christianity told us): "You must clean yourself before you go to converse, and meet with God. Not literally clean, but it's a symbol. This represents not only cleaning your hands, but purifying your heart." 

After your purified you then go to the actual shrine house thing. You walk up reverently and pull this giant rope which rings a bell. This is to let God know that you've made it. To let Him know you've come. Then you throw a coin into this wooden case in front of you. (Representing your willingness to sacrifice for God was Ryottaro's guess, but he didn't know for sure.)  You then bow before God. You clap your hands twice solemnly, and bow again with your palms together. Then you whisper your prayer to God. Normally people pray for their families, for success, or for health. You stand up, clap one more time and bow really low to express your humility and gratitude. 

That's it! 

Then you go to a stand where these people are selling trinkets that do various things like Improve your health, or give you better grades. (they also have arrows that you keep in your house.

Arrows that are supposed to kill the demon. (satan!)) There as well you do various things to get a fortune for the year. (this year is the year of the Horse, by the way.) My comp and I went fishing for one, and Ryottaro and Mami shook a thing full of sticks. 

Boden choro and I both got Dai kuchi. We pulled it out of the little wooden fish's mouth and showed it to them to read. Mami read mine and freaked out. "DAI KUCHI!... oh. This the the very best fortune." Boden Choro showed Ryottaro his. He had a similar reaction. 

They both got "so-so" fortunes, which they say is normal. 

If you get a good fortune like we did, you keep it. If you get a bad one,

you go and tie it onto a fence next to the shrine. You leave your bad fortune with God, and pray that He will take care of it. That He'll take the bad fate from you. 

People also write little wishes on these wooden blocks with painting of the horse on them. They hang it on another fence hoping that God will grant them. 

Anywho. I'll send you some pictures!