...should i say happy 2007 or welcome the new year of 2008? doesn't matter because here we celebrate both! yo-shhhh!
Here are a few pictures from the passage to the new year...it's funny because the actual countdown is not such an important thing, but rather a period of three days following the switch.
'Shogatsu' is the official name that is given which represents the first three days of January, where people usually go and visit temples or shrines, and pray, thank and leave their troubles behind...sometimes it can go on for about a week.
I thought Kyoto would be a nice place to experience 'shogatsu', and even go to a temple, also known as 'hatsumode'...however I was among millions of people that had the same idea!
everybody seemed to be burning a piece of rope and letting them smoke in their hands, so we got ourselves one and let it burn too...it's one of the many customs during this period in japan...
the streets of Kyoto were submerged with people...but i have to say everything was very well organized; this is also customary in Japan! Always a tight organization...
the entrance of the temples are always surrounded by all sorts of food stands and games...a little like a festival, however new years is probably the most important one.
this picture was taken earlier in the evening...it's shows the way to the main temple where everything went down; after midnight it was impossible for me to take a picture because of how many people there was.
the main event: everybody gathered around a huge gong/bell.
Around midnight, this gong was struck 108 times to forget the 108 sins from the past year. 108 temptations? i guess that's about right...if you count some of those with your eyes closed...
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