Happy 2018☆

                                                                                       Torii Gate, Ise Shrine

Happy New Year 2018 !

I hope you all have enjoyed the new year holidays.
For many Japanese, the new year day is to pray for good luck at shrines.              

A bit early but last week, I went to Kifune Shrine in Kyoto and Ise Shrine in Mie prefectures.
They are very famous, enshrining the god of water and the goddess of the sun respectively.

Shrines symbolize Shinto, the native religion of Japan.

Although Shinto doesn't have particular books to learn, harmonized with surrounding nature, both shrines seemed to tell me how to be myself instead of teaching what to do.

                         Path to Main Hall, Kifune Shrine

In this sense, Shinto is said to be a religion to feel. To feel truly, one should be clear-minded, then shrines have a place to wash hands and a mouth to cleanse.

Many Japanese also worship Buddhism.

This may appear to be awkward to foreigners but I would say our flexible religious view is significant in the world today because religions sometimes trigger conflicts.

Let's make the new year a peaceful one!
今年もよろしくお願い申し上げます♪

*Due to a national holiday, the next blog entry will be in two weeks. Thank you for reading!