Gomennasi - I brilliantly hid my photo memory card reader from myself for a while, but here are some new pics. On New Year's Eve, the girls took me up to Hirado - about an hour north of Sasebo. Here we are up on a hill overlooking the harbor in town. (gotta love those self portraits done at arm's length, yo) I think I need to work on my 'purikura' faces - Japanese people are capable of hilarious faces, since one of the big pastimes here is doing 'purikura', or their version of photo booths. Ah, well, at least I'm good advertising for my orthodonist :)
"Hatsumode" is the first temple visit of the year, and people use this time to pray for special blessings and favors for the year ahead. Last year I went to a temple in Fukuoka after midnight, and I felt like it was the Japanese version of Times Square. This New Year's Eve, because of the rain and snow, we decided to go during the day. To pay respects to the Gods you:
1 - purify your hands in the stone basin at the entrance
2 - pull the rope to ring the bell - to wake the gods, maybe? (this is what I'm doing here)
3 - make an offering (toss coins into the bin in front of the temple)
4 - bow twice
5 - clap twice
6 - bow once more
...and they told me prayers receive special attention when you act like one of the temple guard lions...
(make sure to click on this pic to enlarge - I think my crazy purikura facial expressions are definitely improving)
3 comments:
...and they told me prayers receive special attention when you act like one of the temple guard lions...
You know, with a face like that, I'D PAY REAL GOOD ATTENTION TO YOUR PRAYERS!!! Glad you're back with the pictures. Missed you these last couple days.
Aunt B
I think you're becoming a purikura master........do I detect a career change in the future?
...and they told me prayers receive special attention when you act like one of the temple guard lions...
...all the while trying to hide the smirk that said, "Crazy gajin - so gullible!"
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