Hatsumōde (初詣) is the first visit to a shrine or temple in the New Year. It is one of the most popular customs in Japan. In the first days of January, millions of people pass through the torii gates. They pray for health, happiness and good luck in the year ahead. Hatsumōde is a quiet, hopeful ritual. At the great shrines, it is also a huge public event.
The first visit of the year
In the first hours and days of January, people go to a Shinto shrine or a Buddhist temple to say their first prayers of the year. They give thanks for the old year and ask the kami, the gods, to bless the new one. At the offering hall, they toss in a coin, bow, clap their hands and pray. The biggest shrines draw millions of visitors in the first three days. Among them are Meiji Jingū in Tokyo, Fushimi Inari in Kyoto and Sumiyoshi Taisha in Osaka. Crowds fill the paths to the shrine shoulder to shoulder, and food stalls line the way. So hatsumōde is a festive outing as much as an act of worship.
Fortunes, charms, and arrows
At hatsumōde, people renew their luck for the year. Many draw an omikuji (御神籤), a paper slip that tells their fortune. It can say anything from "great blessing" to "curse." By tradition, you tie a bad fortune to a rack or a tree at the shrine and leave the bad luck there. Visitors buy new omamori, small protective charms, for the year. Many also buy a hamaya (破魔矢), a "demon-breaking arrow." This decorative arrow hangs at home and keeps evil away. People bring last year's charms and decorations back to the shrine, and the priests burn them in a ritual fire. Shrines often hand out warm, sweet amazake, a drink made from rice, to help visitors fight the cold.
Words & idioms to take away
Idioms & proverbs to carry away
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御神籤 / おみくじ (omikuji): a written fortune that you draw at random at a shrine or temple. It tells your luck for the year. If it is bad, you tie it up and leave it behind.
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破魔矢 (hamaya): literally "demon-breaking arrow," a lucky arrow that people buy at New Year. It drives off evil and protects the home.