Spring Plum Blossom

At the weekend I went to Kitano Tenmangu Shrine in Kyoto to see the plum blossom. Kitano Tenmangu is the most famous place in Kyoto for viewing plum blossom due to it's massive grove with nearly 2000 plum trees. The flowers usually bloom between February and March but because of the cold weather this year they are blooming a bit later than usual. When we visited, most of the trees were still bare but there were some which were very beautiful.

Kitano Tenmangu Shrine is dedicated to Sugawara Michizane, a scholar and politician who is associated with the Shinto god of education. Because of this the shrine is popular for students who come to pray for their studies. I may have sneaked in a little prayer for my final exam which is in a couple of weeks.

It was so nice wandering around the plum grove, it felt like spring was on it's way. But then today it snowed! Are there any signs of spring arriving where you live?

One of the more sparse areas!

As usual, I took a photo of people taking photos.

Setsubun: chasing away the devils

On the 3rd February it was Setsubun. This is day when people chase away evil spirits before the start of spring according to the lunar calendar. There are many things which people do in order to chase away the devil:

• In some families the father of the house will put on a devil mask while the rest of the family throw beans at him shouting, 'oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi.' This translates as 'devils out, happiness in.'
• You are then supposed to eat as many beans as your age, plus one extra as good luck for the forthcoming year. 
• People often eat sardines as the smell is supposed to scare away the devil. 
• It is also a tradition to eat a long roll of makizushi while facing in the direction which has been chosen for that year. You are supposed to eat the whole roll in silence.

There are ceremonies all over Japan celebrating this day I went to the biggest one in Kyoto at Yoshida Shrine. The main event was a performance but it was so crowded that we couldn't get near the stage. However we still had a great time, watching the devils as they went past us on the way to the shrine and buying a few things at some of the many food stalls.

After the performance the devils came back up the hill and we followed them as they made their way to another shrine. Not many people walked all the way up so I could get really close and take lots of photos. It was interesting for me because the festival had officially ended so I could see behind the scenes; people taking off their costumes and mothers waiting for their children who had been part of the ceremony.

This isn't a devil. He is the one who is supposed to scare away the devil.

Devil with a strange sense of style, leopard print pants?

I think this devil has been enjoying all the food stalls.

Those shoes!

I think this monk just got a funny text?

Even devils need a helping hand.

Devils' shoes.

How to avoid disasters (the Japanese way)

In Japan there are lots of superstitions. One of them is that there are three years in your life which disasters are likely to happen. Last Saturday I went to the shrine which is for praying for protection from these disasters.

• For women the disaster years are 19, 33 and 61. For men they are 25, 42 and 61.
• You are supposed to visit the shrine the year before your disaster year to pray for protection and then the year after to thank the gods. Since I turn 19 next year I went to the shrine and did lots of praying!
• People visit all through out the year but in January there is actually a special disaster festival. However we missed it because it started on Sunday. The festival is called Yakuyoke mairu, meaning the time to avoid disasters.
• You could buy white arrows to keep and burn next year. On Sunday people started to burn the arrows which they bought last year. 

It was a shame that we didn't get to see the festival, but in any case it was a nice shrine to walk around. The shrine was called Iwashimizu Hachimangu and it takes about 20 minutes on the Keihan line from Kyoto station to Yawata-shi station. From Yawata-shi station you then take a cable car up the mountain and then walk for about 5 minutes to the shrine.

Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine

A dance with peoples white arrows.

Omikuji

Heian Shrine

On new years day the third shrine we went to was Heian Jingu. This is one of my favourite shrines in Kyoto and I been quite a few times over the years but this was by far the busiest I have ever seen it. However compared to some other shrines, such as Fushimi Inari, this isn`t very busy for new years day.

Below is a photo of everyone queuing to enter the shrine and pray.

2014!

Had a lovely day yesterday visiting three shrines to pray for a good year ahead. The photos are from the second shrine we went to. Unfortunately I haven`t managed to solve the problems I have been having with my blog which means I am currently limited to posting two photos at a time.

Anyway, I hope you all had a great new years eve and new years day!

Nonomiya-jinja

When we went to Arashiyama we walked past Nonomiya-jinja which is located in the bamboo forest. This shrine has a long history and is referred to in The Tale of Genji written 1000 years ago by a court lady called Murasaki Shikibu. There was a long queue of women waiting to pray. This is because several gods are enshrined here, one of which is the god good match and marriage.

Price: Free

Location: 15 minutes from Kyoto station to Saga-Arashiyama station on JR railway San'in Honsen line. Then 10 minutes on foot.