My New Year's Eve proved to be an experience of which I could not have asked for anything more moving and traditionally Japanese. Gabby and I were invited with some of my friends (Mari and Yumi) into Tokyo to count down the new year like real Japanese. We made the long commute and met up with my friends in Tokyo at Zojoji Temple. This spot in Tokyo is especially acclaimed because of the incredible melding of rich culture and modern technology. Just beyond the temple is the overwhelming Tokyo Tower; with an uncanny resemblance to the great tower of Eiffel in Paris, however this tower reaches higher and serves a much more modern purpose. The Tokyo Tower was built to serve as a communications tower in order to coordinate all the radio and television waves rushing around Tokyo.
When we first arrived at Zojoji, we stood in line to receive a piece of paper on which we could write any wish we wanted. I made a wish sincerely from my heart, but I won't tell, so you can guess for yourself ;) Once we had our tickets, we ventured out into Tokyo a bit to grab some dinner and sit in a warm restaurant for a while. We had some Korean food and some fruit sours to wash it down. It was so much fun sitting in the restaurant introducing Gabby to Japanese culture and helping her to make some new friends!
After some time in the restaurant, we headed back to the temple to collect our balloons and attach our wishes to the string. I would say there were hundreds of thousands of people crowded at this huge temple. We were ushered out with a flowing wave of people right in front of the temple to wait until the clock struck midnight. With about 5 minutes left of 2008, all the lights in and around the temple were turned off, there was some light floating in from other parts of Tokyo, but it was really dark. The countdown for the last ten seconds of the New Year is a universal behavior, and as soon as the new year hit, all the lights came on and lighted signs had been changed to read 2009 and there were 3000 balloons released into the air. Balloons released into the world with sincere wishes and prayers to heard by someone more powerful and loving.
Once the balloons were released the crowd charged forward to enter the temple, offer their small monetary sacrifice and pray. I cannot explain how many people there were, maybe the pictures will give some indication, but the crowd was so forceful, we would not have had the option of standing still if we wanted to. We were being carried forward. When we finally reached the temple, the decorations and adornments were an incredible sight. Everything was golden and brilliant. Just after praying, we walked back to the station and made the long commute home. It was a really fantastic way to spend the New Year and I feel so fortunate to have been able to experience something so Japanese and yet it be so personal to me at the same time.
2 comments:
That sounds much more entertaining than new year's in Times Square! I would have loved to see those balloons fly, as it would be a welcome change from all the ribbon and confetti and lack of bathrooms and port-a-potties.
That is the coolest thing about being in a foreign country; participating in something traditionally Japanese and finding the meaning and enjoyment for yourself. Your adventurous spirit is something I admire. I love you.
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