Continuing from the last post, the second part of the holiday of Oshougatsu is 'Hatsumoude' (taking the trip to the local shrine), and Shopping sprees. Going to the local (or a famous one) shrine can be done either at midnight on New Year's eve, if you are brave enough to bear the cold and long lines, or in the days right after. I went that night and it was really cold! At least you get a warm cup of 'amazake' at some shrines (Amazkae kind of warm rice mile with some sake added. I guess its like eggnog a bit).
Going to shrine is not so much a religious thing as it is a cultural one. I understand from friends that Shinto its not considered religion, since it's so deeply ingrained in the culture and has less emphasis on money, as opposed to the way Buddhism has evolved here, but I digress. Bascially you wait until its your turn and then approach the shrine, bow, throw 5 yen in (its like 5 cents and is pronounced 'go-en' is a play on a word meaning 'luck'), clap your hands to awaken the gods, and make your wish. After that there are various fortune and luck-related services available. Some people write their wish for the new year on boards called 'ema'. I have read things like "help me pass this exam", or things like that. Another thing some people opt to do is get an 'omamori' or talisman/protector for the year. You can get different ones for different things you want luck in such as health, school, travel, etc. When the next year comes, you bring the one from last year and they burn it there at the shrine in a ceremony, you dont throw them away.
Lastly, you can get 'omikuji', which is your fortune for the year. Basically you rattle a box with wood sticks inside and pull one out. Each has a number and the number corresponds to your fortune. Even for some Japanese, they can be hard to interpret, but basically you get 'daikitchi' (bigluck), 'kitchi' (luck), or 'kyou' (not so great luck). I dont know what mine is, I have to find someone to interpret it for me! lol
For more worldly pursuits, there are plenty of incredible shopping sales going on, where vendors cut prices from 10 to 50 percent and most take advantage of this, since living here is kinda expensive. Instead of buying off the rack, a lot of stores offer what is called 'fukubukuro' which means lucky bag. You pay a set price, much lower than the value of the contents, but what's in the bag is unknown in most cases. The fact it's such a low price (like half or more) can be a good deal if you like most of the items in that store. I am not much of a gambler so this didn't appeal to me. I did get a nice deal on a winter coat, but waited in probably the longest line of my life! It went around the store 2 times and took about an hour and a half. It’s holiday so people have time and surprisingly no one lost their tempers or got impatient about it. They say 'shouga nai' which means 'there is little you can do about it' (so dont get upset!)
