New Years

It's been pretty tough for us these last couple of weeks. We've been missing everyone at home around the holidays pretty bad. On top of that we've gotten into a really wacked out sleep schedule where we're awake half the night and sleep through half the day. And, since the sun goes down around 4, we often don't get much done before its night again. I'm begin to truly feel like a vampire.

We've done a couple of things to get ourselves out of the house but so far the sleep schedule is still in place, cant quite shake it for one reason or another. Tomorrow we have plans to go out again, but its already 3:30AM and I'm still wide awake, so I doubt we'll be awake "early".

Anyways, we really wanted to do something interesting for New Years Eve so we decided to go to the temple on Mt.Takao. Mt.Takao is a tourist attraction here in Hachioji and its one of the most impressive mountains in Tokyo. It's near our home too, which is pretty convenient. It's considered a sacred mountain housing a temple, some shrines, and some tengu. Tengu are good demons that ward off evil and protect the good, and it is believed that sacred Mt.Takao is the home of some tengu.

One of the tengu- red face, big nose, wings, holding a fan to waft away evil.

New Years Eve is not a very celebrated even here in Japan. In some places, like Shibuya (a kind of party district in Tokyo) you can find parties, clubs, and lots of people. However, most people celebrate New Years Day as the biggest holiday of the year. It is customary for people to visit temples for New Years to pray, so many people do this at midnight. Buddhist temples are open all night on New Years Day and there are often food vendors, souvenir stalls, and even some music. The temples ring a very large bell 108 times to wash away the 108 sins of wordly desires from the past year. On Mt.Takao they also ring in the new year with a chorus of conch shells, which sounded very odd and kind of beautiful.

The view over Hachioji, Tokyo.

We made a short video you can check out by clicking the picture below. We talk a bit at the end, so stick through it. It was a really awesome experience that I doubt we'll soon forget. It seemed to make our being away from family and friends a little easier too. Sometimes seeing or experiencing something we could only do in Japan makes it feel like our absence is really worth it. And I hope you all enjoy a little glimpse of Japan! We plan on going back up to Mt.Takao again soon so we'll get some better shots of what it looks like during the day. For now just enjoy what you can see through the dark and the fogged lens!

 

K+K