Complications of Kite-Flying

These photos were taken on January 2nd, the only time of the year when you see dozens of kites in the sky. These were taken in a large field near Tokyo Bay..

A couple readying their kite.

  

Tokyo Bay is generally very windy, but this day was particularly so. A lot of people were having trouble keeping their kites in the air.

 

A kite tangled in the pine trees.

A pile of discarded kites.

New Year's Day at Takuzosu Inari Shrine/Jigenin Temple

After welcoming the new year at Denzuin Temple, at around twelve-thirty in the morning on New Year's Day, I went to Takuzosu Inari Shrine/Jigenin Temple, which is just down the street. I'd visited this shrine/temple several times last year, and every time I went, the place was nearly deserted. I was glad to see dozens of people lining up to pay their respects.

Shinto deities and Buddhist deities were forbidden to be worshipped together in the Meiji era, but this place serves as indication that the Shinbutsu-bunri Law (literally "kami-buddha separation law") was not fully pervasive. One clear sign of this are the foxes (symbolically associated with shrines) on the front of the temple's main building.

The chief priest (who is fairly young and hip) and his family ladled out warm amazake and handed them out to visitors.

One of the reasons I like this shrine/temple is because I discover something new every time I visit. On that day, I noticed the large fish hanging on the side of the main temple building.

The gate at the entrance. Is this a peach? A turnip?

The shrine section had been decorated all around with these lanterns, casting an eerie but beautiful effect.

The next large event for the shrine/temple is February 2, Setsubun Day.

New Year's Eve at Denzuin

Last year, I rang in the new year at Hongwanji Temple in Tsukiji. This year, I opted for Denzuin, in Koishikawa (about 15 minutes' walk from Myogadani or Kasuga Stations.)

A Jodo Buddhist temple established in 1415, Denzuin weathered three major fires (in 1721, 1725, and 1908), and was destroyed completely in World War II. The main hall was rebuilt after the War, and renovations are still carried out periodically. The new gate (pictured below) was completed only last year.

 

The gate is two-storied, and priests threw small packages down to visitors after the clock had struck midnight. Their reach was limited, so I was not able to see what was actually inside.

 

Unlike Hongwanji, there was no actual countdown to the new year, so the overall effect was rather anticlimactic. There was also less of a sense of community. 

 The staircase leading up to the second floor of the gate.

 

 Visitors took turns ringing the bell.

The path you take after ringing the bell leads you past the three statues of bodhisattvas. 

Mom and Pop Dinner

Mom's New Year's dinner, clockwise from the top: tazukuri (dried sardines cooked in soy sauce, mirin, and sugar); namasu (Japanese radish and Korean carrot marinated in rice vinegar); kohada (small herring, pickled), kazunoko (herring roe); kuromame (black soybeans, simmered on the stove for hours); datemaki and kamaboko (sweet rolled omelette, left, and steamed fish paste, right). Also homemade roast beef.

Dad's contribution: sea bream and rice, cooked in an earthenware pot. To his credit, he spent over 20 minutes painstakingly pulling out all the bones with a tweezer.

I suspect that many people believe that their mothers are the best cooks ever.