Day 21 of writing every day.
I’m ready to put 2022 behind me and get things done in 2023.
I ended up spending the remaining daylight of the afternoon of New Years Day visiting two shrines.
First I went to Samuhara Shrine, dedicated to a deity in Shinto that the founder of Aikido would refer to at times. Annual discarding of charms/talismans is a traditional practice as part of the process of renewal, so I went to discard the old charm that is placed in my dojo and went to purchase a new one for the year. There I prayed for the success of the dojo and to ward off bad things from happening to it.
Samuhara Shrine is located within the city nested in an area crowded with tall buildings near a major road. I can only imagine how things used to look centuries ago in the area.
Shrines are not a place of worship where sermons are given like one would expect with major religions of the Abrahamic tradition. Most people just go and make a wish to pray for health, success, etc. on matters that are beyond their control or to hope that things will go favorably. They’re not religious at all and just accept that there might be things beyond human comprehension at work.
To let visitors have something to look forward to, shrines have omikuji, which are simply fortunes written on a thin sheet of paper (printed nowadays) that are randomly drawn. It could be a box where people stick their hands in and pick one out, or a container filled with numbered sticks and the shrine staff will hand you a fortune assigned to the number you drew.
The Samuhara Shrine is designated as a “power spot,” which is just a Japanese term that’s given to places where some people felt like there was something special about the space, like there is some power at work. These places are located all across Japan and some people make a hobby out of visiting as many of them as they can.
The power spot might be the rock sitting outside, a giant slab of granite with the shrine’s name on it. I find the shrine grounds do seem to exist in a different realm not entirely separated from the rest of society as there is a tranquility and gravity within it that I don’t feel outside the space.
Afterwards, I went and took the subway in another direction to head to Ishikiri Shrine, a shrine that is considered one of the more famous in Japan.
It was an interesting experience comparing a smaller shrine to a grand one.
While people were lining up to go make their new year wishes, the Samuhara Shrine had a much quieter and solemn feel with people lining up with minimal chatter. Just seeing, hearing, and feeling the wind blow was enough to feel like something else was at work. The line was long enough to snake around the corner of the block.
When I got to Ishikiri Shrine at 4 pm or so, the line was still quite packed and stretched at least what looked to be maybe between 100 and 200 meters. I thought it was like people lining up to get on a popular attraction at USJ.
However it was simply going up to make a wish, so the line moved rapidly and I made it to the front after around 30 minutes of waiting in line. People were chatting loudly like you’d expect in Osaka.
The mood I was getting felt quite casual and people were really just there because it’s what everyone does come New Years.
Firm in my belief that my success and failure in life is ultimately my own responsibility and not that of unseen deities, my wish was simply to purify myself of impurities in my mind and body. This was in the hopes that I can realize my full potential without being hindered by distractions and barriers physical and mental.
Anyways I hope everyone is doing their best and enjoying the new year. I intend to have a running start but life never really goes how you think it will.
Thanks for reading!
One Chance Works 