My friends Amy, Momoko and Junta (and their baby Umetarou) served as my New Years family for 2016. Momoko made us ozouni, a traditional soup with vegetables, chicken and rice cakes (mochi).
After a hearty breakfast, we headed out into the world. (At one month old, this was Umetarou's first little trip, since in Japan babies should wait one month before being taken out somewhere.)
Junta, Umetarou, Momoko and Amy
At our local Akimiya Shrine, we lined up for hatsumoude, the ceremony of praying for good luck in the new year. Since Akimiya is one of Japan's oldest shrines and very famous in the area, there was quite the queue.
But if I can line up for two hours for the rides at Universal Studios in Osaka, I guess I can wait twenty minutes to pray for a good year.
No outing in Japan would be complete without some kind of quirk. These Star Wars balloons somehow found a way to make Darth Vader - one of cinema's most iconic villains - a cute inflatable for kids.
As I said: unlike anywhere else in the world.
I loved to see the Japanese families at the shrines wearing their finest traditional attires! Simply elegant and beautiful.
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