This year we didn't go to a shrine of New Year's Day but waited a week to let the crowds die down a bit. But today I dragged the family out to a shrine that we hadn't been to before down near the center of Naha - Naminoue. Unfortunately, right as we pulled up the street that led to the shrine rain started pouring down, so our visit was a bit abbreviated and the wonderful photos I had hoped for were not to be.
Still, this one might be worth going back to as it was an interesting setting on a bluff that appeared out of the busy city streets of Naha. The name naminoue translates as "above the waves shrine" and it is a beautiful setting overlooking a beach and the ocean. The original shrine was comletely destroyed apart from a large torii gate during the Battle of Okinawa but has since been restored. I found this interesting youtube video if you wanted to see how it looked in 1945...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdnPKgfE6bA
This is how it looks today...
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| These are wooden boards on which you write your wish for the new year. Notice the rabbit for the year of the rabbit. |
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| People buy all kinds of good luck charms and amulets each year. You're supposed to bring last year's charms back to the shrine at new years and throw them in this building. The monks then burn them. |
You can buy (for 100 Yen) your fortune for the coming year. This year only the kids got one. London's was "excellent", Cannon's was "very good" and Emmy's was "pretty good". I was very glad London got an excellent because, by default, that should make my fortune this year excellent also!
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| Reading their fortunes. |
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| London really seems to be studying his! |
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| If you get a not-so-good fortune, then you tie it to the tree or some place around the shrine and that's supposed to release the bad luck. I guess this guy didn't like his fortune! |
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