HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I prefer to stay in Tokyo over the new year rather than travel overseas or back to Canada, it’s just too expensive and too crowded. Usually, I hang out with the same friend’s doing typical new year’s eve things.

(1) It seems we always start meeting in the Ginza area. Most shops are closed by 7pm but there are always a bunch of people gathered in front of this shop. People passing by can participate in mochitsuki (making mochi) and eat mochi and sake (2) It’s friday night and Namikidori is totally empty. Usually, it would be crowded with high-class hostess types and lots of black Mercedes-Benz with darkened windows.

(1) The izakaya we chose (Akita Dining - Namahage) centered around Akita Prefecture’s theme and food. Namahage is a masked demon which is a symbol of Akita. (2) Kiritanpo is the famous food from Akita. It’s a kind of rice paste served on the stick with Miso-paste. Talk about Carb overload. (3) They even had a Namahage show where these guys dressed in Namahage costumes ran around the izakaya trying to scare the customers into submission.

At around 11pm we grabbed a cab to Tsukiji Honganji (1) It’s famous as the temple where famous people hold their funerals. Yutaka Ozaki’s funeral was held here. I walked by this building before but I didn’t know it was a temple until tonight as it resembles more a Hindu Style Buddhist temple rather than a Japanese one. New Year’s Eve is the only night that they light up the dome. On New Year’s Eve they allow visitors to ring the big bell (joya no kane) which is supposed to free you from your desires (2) It was nice and warm inside which was a pleasant surprise. I’m used to standing in long lines outside at a shrine on new year’s eve (3) Some monks were chanting and we sat down in the back. Not as many people as I expected (4) When people enter they have to line up and pay homage first.

(1) There was a PC in the back connected to the internet where you could look at the temple’s home page (2) We each received a number to wait for our turn to ring the bell. I was 243.

Right before midnight, the head monk gave a short sermon which I only got the gist of since I was only half listening. At midnight, everyone started to send emails to friends from their mobile phones (it’s becoming a tradition) and then we had to wait until our turn to ring the bell. I felt like I was in the immigration office while they were calling out the numbers. They served Amazake outside which had ginger in it. Not sure if I liked the taste of that..

(1) After about an hour, they called our numbers and we were lead to a small steep staircase leading up a tower. I’ve seen images of monks ringing the bell on NHK at new year’s and I was expecting something like that, outside in a nice Japanese style garden not in a cramped bell tower (2) At the top of the staircase there was a ladder that lead to the bell room. A couple of boy scouts were there directing the traffic, only a few people could fit in there at a time (3) When we finally got into the bell room it was utter confusion. The boy scout was saying hurry up ring it and we were wondering where to stand. The room was really cramped and it was hard to get a good picture.

I did get a few decent shots of us ringing the bell though.

(1) That’s me purging myself of all my earthly desires and sins (2) The bell took up about two-thirds of the room (3) This is a shot of the bell tower from outside.

(1) After that we visited the Namiyoke Inari Shrine near Tsukiji Fish Market for Hatsumode. I thought that this shrine, which is to protect fisherman from waves and tsunamis, was appropriate this year (2) There were few people here as well, perhaps it’s not as well known or as accessible as Meiji Shrine (3) You walk through this ring 3 times leading with your left foot and your wish will come true (4) I wonder what this bearded man who was wearing a mask, pink mini-skirt, white stocking and high heels wished for?

After killing some time in Jonathon’s, we headed out to Takeshiba which was the nearest place to watch the first sunrise (Hatsuhinode) It was still pretty dark. These are shots of Odaiba and Rainbow bridge.

Finally around 7 am a lot of people had gathered in the cold to watch the sunrise but it was a bit too cloudy. Too bad.

This is the display in the lobby of the Inter-Continental Hotel we ended up at. We enjoyed a gorgeous breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant. I almost fell asleep while eating my corn flakes. Must be getting too old for this.

Happy New Year!