Fuji-Hakone-Izu Travel Guide » ai kato

Hakonejinja Setsubun Festival and Fireworks Shows with “Inori Boshi®”

ai kato — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 06:17:09 +0000

On February 3rd, there will be a firework show held at Hakonejinja Shrine before the Setsubun Festival. Fireworks held during this season with the most clear air conditions throughout the year is spectacular!
Inori Boshi ® was put in the water to pay the gratitude to the water and pray for the thrives of the local. 12,000 inoriboshi will be put in the water and recycled from the water later.
Please come to Lake Ashinoko and enjoy the fantastic blue light.

Information

Event name	Hakonejinja Setsubun Festival and Fireworks Shows with “Inori Boshi®”
Place	Hakonejinja Shrine, Motohakone Bay
Address	80-1 Motohakone, Hakone-cho, Ashigarashimo-gun, Kanagawa
Period	Feb 2nd, 2015; Time/ Inoriboshi® 18:30, Grand Feinerare 20:00;
Participation fees	–
Contact	Hakne Town Tourist Information Center: 0460-85-5700
Getting there	Approx. 35 minutes by bus from Hakone-Yumoto Station, get off at “Moto Hakon”Bus stop Take a bus from Mishima Station for approx. 60 minutes and get off at Motohakone Port.
Website	https://www.hakone.or.jp/midokoro/kuzuryu.html

* Please make sure the info you see is the latest in advance.

Goshojinja Shrine Setsubun Festival

ai kato — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 06:13:39 +0000

Setsubun is a seasonal word used to describe the transition of four seasons, it is the day preceding risshun (the first day of spring), rikka (the first day of summer), risshu (the first day of autumn) and ritto (the first day of winter).
Therefore, there are 4 days of Setsubun in a year. In lunar calendar, risshu is considered the beginning of the year also know as shougatsu, the setsubun preceding risshu also became important.
During Setsubun Festival, man and woman who was born in a year with the same sign of the Chinese zodiac as the current year will participate in a Mamemaki event in which people throw beans while shouting Fuku-ha-uchi, Oni-ha-soto. It is believed the custom was transfered from China back to Muromachi period.

Information

Event name	Goshojinja Setsubun Festival
Place	Goshojinja Shrine
Address	359-1 Miyashita, Yugawara-cho
Period	Shinto ritual and Mamemaki ritual start from 11 am on Feb 3rd (Tue), 2015
Participation fees	10,000 yen (prayer fee etc. ）
Contact	Yugawara Onsen Tourism Association Tel. 0465-64-1234
Getting there	Approx. 1 km from Yugawara Station to Okuyugawara Area. Take a bus for Okuyugawara bus or Fudo-taki bus, get off at Gosho Shrine bus stop. (approx. 3 minutes)
Website	http://www.yugawara.or.jp/event/details.php?log=1387871092

* Please make sure the info you see is the latest in advance.

The 17th Minami’s Cherry and Rapeseed Flower Festival

ai kato — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 06:06:33 +0000

Minami-Izu-cho is a southernmost town of Izu Peninsula jutting out into the Pacific Ocean.
It is a town thriving with faming and fishing, located at the foot area of mountains. It has a good harbor using tangled natural coastline.
It is a town with abundant natural environment, its warm weather condition is suitable for raising flowers, the shipment of Margaret of the town is the top of Japan.
Every February, Cherry trees planted alongside Aono River which flows through the area of Shimogamo Onsen start to blossom. A contrast of multiple colors formed with pink cherry flowers, yellow Rapeseed flowers and white onsen smog can be enjoyed.
This year’s Minami’s Cherry and Rapeseed Flower Festival (Feb 20th to March 10th) is the 17th anniversary of the event. There will be many new events including wedding ceremonies held in the rapeseed fields, cherry blossom illuminated by light during night.
Please come here to enjoy the early spring flower festival.

Information

Event name	The 17th Minami’s Cherry and Rapeseed Flower Festival
Place	Road Station Shimogamo Onsen Yu-no-hana
Address	157-1, Shimogamo, Minami-izu-cho, Kamo-gun, Shizuoka
Period	Feb 10th (Wed) to March 10th (Tue)
Participation fees	Free
Contact	TEL 0558-62-0141/FAX 0558-62-1319
Getting there	By train: Tokyo — Shimoda — Minami-Izu; By Shinkansen: Tokyo — Atami — Ito — Shimoda — Minam-izu By car: Tokyo — Atsugi — Odawara — Atami — Shimoda — Minami-izu Nagaizumi Numazu IC — Shuzenji — Shimoda — Minami-izu Shimizu — Toi — Dogajima — Minami-izu
Website	http://www.minami-izu.jp/event.html?id=73493

* Please make sure the info you see is the latest in advance.

Mt. Fuji Snow Festival

ai kato — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 06:02:39 +0000

Mt. Fuji Snow Festival
Come here, let’s make snowman together!
The pure white world presented before your looked just like a fairy tale world.

Information

Event name	Mt. Fuji Snow Festival
Place	Shibafu Hiroba at Kawaguchi-ko Museum
Address	Fuji-Kawaguchiko-cho, Minami-Tsuru-gun, Yamanashi
Period	9 am to 5 pm (last admission time: 4:30 pm) on Jan 15th (Thu) to Feb 25th, 2015
Participation fees	Free
Contact	Mt. Fuji Snow Festival Executive Committee Tel. 0555-72-2159
Getting there	By car: 10 minutes from Kawaguchiko IC, 10 minutes from Kawaguchiko Station; by bus: 11mimutes from Kawaguchiko Station.
Website	http://www.fujisanyukimatsuri.jp/index.html

* Please make sure the info you see is the latest in advance.

Saiko Jyuhyo Festival

ai kato — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 05:58:57 +0000

One of most amazing winter event alongside with winter fireworks in Lake Fuji Kawaguchi is the Ice Festival held at Saiko Yacho-no-mori Park every year.
There are spectacular sceneries in the park including frost covered trees called Jyuhyo which are up to 10 meters in heights.
Ice sculptures illuminated by lights looks fantastic! Surrounded by clear air, you can enjoy great art of nature.

Information

Event name	Saiko Jyuhyo Festival
Place	Saiko Yacho-no-mori Park
Address	2068 Saiko, Fuji-Kawaguchiko-cho, Minami-Tsuru-gun, Yamanashi
Period	Everyday during Jan 24th to Feb 1st of 2015, light illuminations: from sunset to 9pm
Participation fees	Free
Contact	Tel. 0555-72-3168
Getting there	From Kawaguchi-ko Station, take a Saiko Retro Bus of for Aokigahara Line, get off at Saiko Yacho-no-mori Park bus stop.
Website	http://www.fujisan.ne.jp

* Please make sure the info you see is the latest in advance.

First Sunrise of new year

ai kato — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 07:35:07 +0000

The first dawn in new year is considered auspicious in Japan. Many people will go to see the first sunrise of the new year.

I too got up earlier, went to see the first sunrise! According to the TV announcement, the time of sunrise will be 6:51 am, so I went to the beach at 6:30 am.

The beach was already packed with a lot of people.

But to my disappointment, the sky at the direction of the sunrise was covered by clouds

I waited for about an hour, but the there is no sign of sunrise at all, I felt cold outside, my nose started running, so I decided to give up and go home.

At that moment…!

Finally the sun shined through the cloud! !

The sun in the morning is so beautiful. I watched the sun rise slowly for a long time.

Sorry I only took few photos.

Instead of photos, I will write down my new year resolutions here.

Resolution No.1: have a diet!

Resolution No. 2: get married!

These are the two dreams of my new year.

Also, I will do my best to contribute to our portal site Fuji-Izu-Hakone Travel Guide, to make it a more convenient website with a lot of useful travel informations of Japan!

And thank you always for your support! It means a lot to us!

Ai Kato

New Year’s First Visit to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine

ai kato — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 06:32:58 +0000

Do you know Hatsumode? It is a new year tradition of Japan, “Hatsu” means “for the first time” while “Mode” means “praying in a shrine or temple.” So Hatsumode basically means to visit shrines or temples for the first time in the new year. In this post, I would like to share some basic knowledges about how to perform Hatsumode in Japan!

This year, I went to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine which is located in Kamakura City.

I went to there at 9 am on January 1st, the shrine was already packed with numerous people. It took me about one hour to reach the praying spot. However I had got used to this crowdedness since it occurs every year.

To me, this year is a “Yakudoshi” which means an unlucky year. So I had to go though a ritual called Yakubarai to get rid of the bad luck.

Yakudoshi is a set of believed “unlucky” ages in Japan. To make it worse, my age for this year is “Honaku” which is considered the most bad luck age in Yakudoshi! ! ^^;

Therefore I applied for a Yakubarai ritual to get rid of the bad luck. The ritual is expensive, it cost me a fare amount of money.

It usually cost 5,000 yen to 20, 000 yen.

The space within the main building of the shrine was so narrow, I waited for another two hours and finally went through a Yakubarasi ritual. I hope it can help me go though this year in peace and without any hassle.

After prayer, you will receive an Osatsu (a type of talisman) and an Omamori (an amulet).

It was put in a cute paper bag.

If your house has a Kamidana (a household Shinto altar), you need to put the Osatsu (the talisman) on it and put it toward the east or south. If your house doesn’t have a Kamidana, you need to put the Osatsu on a high location of your house. You can put the Omamori (the amulet) in your wallet and bring it with you wherever you go.

Later I went to pick an Omikuji (a fortune slip of Shinto).

Omikuji only cost 100 yen each, which is a resealable price. Don’t forget to try one if you got a chance to visit a Japanese shrine! To me, the fortune of this year is goes to be…

A “Kichi” which means “Blessing!” ! ! “Kichi” is a good sign! ! Which is the second best one among all the fortune slips! !

[Oder of the Omikuji] Daikichi (great blessing) — Kichi (blessing) — Chukichi (middle blessing) — Shokichi (small blessing) — Matsukichi (ending blessing) — Kyo (curse)

I am not sure I understood everything written in the Omikuji. However it says I have to be “more sensitive and creative.”

There is another luck charms called Hamaya (a Shinto arrow) which is believed can drive away bad lucks.

The Hamaya arrow sold at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine of Kamakura is a well-know item to the visitors.

At the end of my trip, I went to Toshimaya which is a shop well-know for its Dove Sables, a Kamakura souvenirs. I bought a Fukubukuro, a grab bag contains a variety of articles supposedly worth more in total than the purchase price.

I was so happy to see It contains a notepad, a clipper and other useful items, and a box of tasty Dove Sables! ^ ^

Information

Name	Tsurugaoka Hachimangu
Address	2-1-31 Yukinoshita, Kamakura, Kanagawa
Closed	–
Business hours	–
Fee	–
Getting there	10 minutes walk from the east exit of JR Kamakura Station10 minutes walk from Kamakura Station of Enoden Railway
Parking lot	Available
Toliet	Available
Inquires	TEL 0467-22-0315 FAX 0467-22-4667
Website	https://www.hachimangu.or.jp/index.html

* Please make sure the info you see is the latest in advance.