Posted on: Sunday, January 2, 2005
Shrine bell heralds 2005
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
The lion at the Hawaii Kotohira JinshaiHawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu was a lovable sort, not at all intimidating when he danced toward the children and administered the traditional New Year's bite on the head.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser Often, she said, the lion, whose slow, cleansing dance is rife with Japanese symbolism, "bites" with a snapping noise as it singles out people for special blessings.
Blessings were available in a number of forms for the first-of-the-year visits at the shrines in Kalihi, which began shortly after midnight and continued through the afternoon.
After ringing the bell to invoke the deities and receiving blessings at the shrines themselves, visitors enjoyed helpings of mochi soup, sake and ume, or salted plum.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser Takako Fujimoto of Waikiki dropped 50 cents into an omikuji machine and unwrapped the paper fortune that fell out.
"Very good," she said as she read the projections for her life in the Year of the Rooster. "Excellent."
"Monkey year was challenging, wasn't it?" Takizawa said. "This year will be better because we've paid our dues."
Bob Harada, a board officer at the temple, said the observances of Shinto — which does not have dogma or scriptures — often relate closely to nature, marking times of growth, harvest and change.
Spring festival, for instance, will be celebrated in March.
More information about the Shinto temple at 1239 Olomea St. and a schedule of activities can be found at its Web site, www.e-shrine.org. Reach Karen Blakeman at 535-2430 or kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.
"Oh, he's — almost kissing them," said Irene Takizawa, a board member at the shrines.
Japanese visitor Kaori Owaki receives a New Year's blessing at Hawaii Kotohira JinshaiHawaii Dazaifu Tenmangu in Kalihi.
They shopped a selection of omamori — specially consecrated talismans that help the bearers to gain health, protection and positive energies. Some were designed for drivers. Others were for the safety of golfers, surfers and the family pet.
Ruth Suzuki, of Waipahu, rings the bell to invoke the deities during her visit to the Shinto shrines on Olomea Street.
