Hello everyone！
Wishing you a happy new year！
Do you have any special things to do for new year in your culture?
Unfortunately, one of my family got Covid-19 the end of year, and we couldn’t do anything we normally do at this time of year.
So I would like to share some old photo with you.
Last year, I saw the first sunrise of the year with my daughter.
Some people like to do the first trekking to Mt.Takadake ( the highest peak of Mt.Aso) to see the first sunrise. They start in the dark it sounds cold and scary…
Well, but it must be really glorious and divine view.
Mt.Aso has a long history as a holy mountain.
Another things to do for new year, visiting Shrines which is called “Hatsumoude”.
I haven’t done “ Hatsumoude” yet this year, I believe many people visited Aso shrine. (I saw a bad traffic the other day…) The history of Aso shrine is as long as 2300 years and the rank is highest in Kumamoto. No wonder a lot of people choose Aso shrine for their first visit of the year.
But you don’t need to visit such a big shrine always.
I prefer to visit small, local, familiar shrine in person.
Last year, I went to “Hebiishi Shrine “ which is not so far away from where we live.
There are some white snakes, and the locals have been taking care of them as messengers of god. (Snake is lucky animal in our culture!)
If you are interested in this shrine, you can visit even you don’t have a car. It is 15 min walk from JR Akamizu station.
Covid situation is not easy here yet, but I hope everybody can visit Japan more freely, peacefully this year.
I ‘m excited to see what the new year bring!
Have a very happy new year!
Kana
