00:15:47 Shortly after leaving the Buddhist temple, here's a weirdly coloured and quite blurry picture of the steps leading up to a shrine, where we were going to satisfy the Shinto requirements of New Year.
00:21:25 One may be forgiven for believing that the Japanese celebrate New Year by queuing.
00:31:39 At the top of the steps, and through the gatehouse, the queue continues to the heart of the shrine. Here a Shinto priest with a stick waves some bits of paper (on the end of the stick) at you, you bow a few times, and put a 5 Yen coin in a box. I wasn't allowed to take a picture of this bit so you'll just have to take my word for it.
00:32:08 2003 is the year of the sheep - Chie's year. I think this bilboard here provides people with some essential sheep facts to help them get through the coming twelve months.
00:38:34 After the nice man with the hat had waved his bits of paper at me, there was an opportunity for some free sake, which it is not in my nature to turn down.
00:38:38 I thoroughly approve of this tradition, as hopefully this picture illustrates.
00:48:34 After the free sake, it is then customary to get these little bits of paper, which tell your fortune for the coming year. As mine was a particularly good one (apparently), I was entitled to a little block of wood, on which I could write something to hang on a big frame with a number of other little blocks of wood. I didn't really understand the system here, so chose to write "niku ya sakana o tabe massen", which has become something of a mantra for me whilst being in Japan. It means I don't eat meat or fish.
00:49:35 Chie standing in front of the frame thing with an assortment of bits of wood and paper tied to it. Apparently I should have actually written a wish on my little block of wood, not just any old statement. Still, if the shinto gods are now busily working away to ensure my ongoing vegetarianism, I suppose that's a result of sorts.