Ringing out the old
The true soul of Japan is neither Shinto nor Buddhist. It’s Shinto-Buddhist. Until the artificial split of early Meiji times, the country had more than 1000 years of happy syncretism. Born Shinto, die Buddhist is still the Japanese way.
Shinto is this-worldly, concerned with rites of passage and social well-being. Buddhism is other-worldly, concerned with individual salvation. At New Year the two religions come together like yin and yang, either side of midnight. Buddhism sees out the death of the old; Shinto celebrates the birth of the new. Joya-no-kane (tolling of the bell) gives way to Hatsumode (first visit of the year).
To get the full feel of a New Year, one needs to be syncretic too. In the dying minutes of the year, it is good to go and hear the bell being rung at a Buddhist temple. By tradition it is rung 108 times once for every attachment that plagues the human condition. Then after midnight one can head for a shrine to pick up arrow and amulets for protection through the coming year.
With over 3000 temples and shrines in Kyoto, we’re happily spoilt for choice. A popular but crowded combination is Chion-in and Yasaka Jinja, where one files up the hill to watch the young priests at the temple acrobatically swing on ropes to ring the bell, before heading down to the shrine to get bamboo lit with sacred fire to take home and purify the house.
Yasaka Shrine
Personally I prefer the open space of Kurodani, where the bell booms soulfully over the nearby hillside. Open fires give off a warm glow, which you can add to with heated sake before lining up to ring the bell. Afterwards a twenty-minute walk leads through dark and dozing streets to the wooded surrounds of Shimogamo Jinja. From solemnity one passes into a world of jollity.
Suddenly there are laughing voices, bright kimono, and gaudy lights. Aspiring yakuza sell candy floss and goldfish. Here is rebirth and the promise of new beginnings, as ‘Akemashite gozaimasu’ rings out on every side. A throng of people toss coins over the heads of those in front into the offertory boxes, so that with the blessing of the kami this too will be a happy New Year.
Happy New Year to all the readers of Green Shinto, and many thanks for helping us get up to nearly 1000 hits a day. Rainen mo yoroshiku!
Traditional New Year decorations
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