We rang in the New Year in Noda with the Ono family; eating piles of delicious crab and mochi, watching a New Year's music competition, and generally relaxing. When the clock struck midnight, we walked a few blocks from the house to the little neighborhood shrine. There a line of people had already gathered. We were all there to throw a coin into the shrine, clap our hands, pray for a good new Year and drink cups of hot sake. I don't have great shots, but here are a few pics of our view standing in line as we entered the shrine.
The tori, or gate, entrance to the shrine grounds.
Through the heads you can see the area where you throw a coin, ring a bell, clap, and pray.
We didn't really decide on any New Year's resolutions, although we did kind of embark on preparation for some planned activities this summer (i.e. climbing Mt. Fuji with my parents). Call it Summer's resolutions. (Maybe then there is a chance we'll hold to them.) Last week, we decided that we needed some fresh air and a little climbing, so we headed to the outskirts of Kyoto to Mt. Kurama. Kurama is a small mountain with a shrine complex running up and down mountainside. There is a ropeway train that will whisk you up to the main shrine in a few minutes, but sticking with our Summer's Resolutions, we decided to hoof it all the way up.
Richard at the base of the shrine complex.
Snow! I missed you!
Looking back towards the Kurama station area.
Just getting up to Mt. Kurama already meant that we'd ascended into the mountains surrounding Kyoto. Osaka and Kyoto, like most cities in the valleys in Japan, don't usually get snow. But snow is usually present just a short train ride UP. We had a great combination of weather that day. It was cool enough that the snow stayed on the ground, but warm enough to be outside for hours without pain.
A view up one of the many staircases we climbed that day.
Still only about a quarter of the way there.
Pausing for some tree hugging.
Between the two of us, we've got the whole tree covered.
Some signs at the summit of Mount Kurama.
After reaching the top of Mount Kurama, we wound our way down a trail that took us to the area of the Kibune Shrine.
This is a popular tourist area and the little road that we walked to get back to a train station was full of noodle shops, trinket shops, and green tea cafes.
It was a bit too cold for us to stop this time, but we saw lots of tea drinking platforms next to this little river. It looks like a great place to come in the summer to cool off.
So that's the beginning of our Summer's Resolutions!
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