Hatsumode at Kogane Jinja in Gifu

This year we made our first shrine visit of the New Year (hatsumode) at Kogane Jinja in Gifu City. Hatsumode (初詣) is the Japanese tradition of visiting a shrine or temple during the first few days of the New Year. This is usually around January 1st, 2nd or 3rd.

The main purpose of hatsumode is to pray for health, happiness and success for the year ahead.

Kogane Jinja (金神社) is one of Gifu’s most famous Shinto shrines and is conveniently located in the city center. The shrine was founded way back in 135 and has long been considered a place to pray for financial blessings in Gifu.

Kogane Jinja Shrine in Gifu City

This year we chose Kogane Jinja because we wanted to avoid all the crowds at Gifu’s main shrine, Inaba Jinja as well as pray for a financial successful year. This is important to us as we recently had a baby and we need all the financial help we can at the moment with just me working to support the family.

Kogane Jinja has been destroyed and rebuilt on several occasions with the current structure built in 1988. The shrine has a nice feel to it and is always a popular place in Gifu to pray as it is so conveniently located to the downtown area.

The enshrined god at Kogane Jinja is the goddess, Nunoshihime-no-mikoto, who is the wife of Inishiki-Irihiko-no-mikoto, the god of Inaba Shrine.

The Main Shrine Gate at Kogane Jinja

We made our hatsumode at Inaba Jinja last year, which you can read about on this post.

The New Year’s period is always the busiest time for Kogane Jinja, with an estimated 150,000 worshipers visiting the shrine over the three-day period (January 1st ,2nd ,3rd).

Here are a few customs and traditions we followed for our hatsumode at Kogane Jinja:

Osaisen 

Osaisen (賽銭) is the custom of offering money to the gods at the shrine for good luck. Simply throw a small coin (5 yen is best) into the saisen-bako (賽銭箱) donation box, bow twice, clap twice, pray to the gods for a happy and prosperous year and bow once again as you finish. Why is a 5 yen coin the best? Because go-en (5 yen in Japanese) means chance, fate or destiny, and is considered lucky and to bring about good fortune.

Osaisen at Kogane Jinja Shrine in Gifu

Omikuji 

Omikuji (おみくじ) is another common custom when visiting a Shinto shrine in Japan. You can buy an omikuji at many different locations around the shrine for 100 yen. It is basically a fortune written on a small piece of paper. There are typically twelve different kinds of fortune you can receive ranging from good to bad. Don’t worry if you receive a bad fortune, simply tie it onto the special rack or tree on the shrine grounds, and this will ensure that the prediction will not come true. Remember to keep it if you receive a good one.

Omikuji at Inaba Jinja Shrine in Gifu City

Hamaya 

Hamaya (破魔矢) is a decorative wooden arrow sold at shrines to ward off misfortune and attract good luck. It is traditionally only available during the first few days of the year. They are sometimes also called ‘demon-breaking arrows’. Each shrine has its own unique design and they make a very cool decoration for your genkan (entrance at home) or souvenir. Traditionally, they are placed at the north-east and south-west corners of the house to protect against evil spirits. It is believed that these parts of the house are the most susceptible to evil influences. This year is the Year of the Sheep, so hamaya will feature a wooden wishing plaque called an ema (絵馬) with a sheep.

Hamaya from Kogane Jinja Shrine in Gifu

Ema ~ Wooden Wishing Plaque from Kogane Jinja Shrine

Amazake 

Amazake (甘酒) is one of my favourite New Year traditions at a shrine in Japan. It is a sweet traditional Japanese sake that is usually drunk to celebrate a special occasion such as the New Year.

A great way to finish off your hatsumode is by drinking a cup of steaming hot amazake by the bon-fire at the shrine.

Kogane Jinja Homepage

Kogane Jinja

Cherry Blossoms at Inaba Shrine Gifu

Inaba Jinja Shrine (伊奈波神社) is a Shinto shrine located at the foot of Mount Kinka in Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture. The shrine is one of the three major Shinto shrines of Gifu City, and is the biggest and most famous. It is a popular spot for hatsumode (first shrine visit of the New Year) and Shichi-Go-San. The shrine has a history of over 1,900 years and was first built in the year 85 AD when Emperor Keiko dedicated the land for a shrine. The god Inishiki-Irihiko-no-Mikoto is enshrined and worshipped here. The shrine was moved to its present location by the samurai warlord, Saito Dosan in 1539. Saito Dosan is widely credited with creating Gifu City as we know it today, and has his own festival on the first Saturday of April, that honours his brave feats. I hope to blog about the festival in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

Inaba Jinja Shrine in Gifu

Inaba Shrine is also a popular spot in spring for the cherry blossoms. The road leading up to the shrine (Inaba-dori) is lined on both sides by weeping cherry blossoms (shidare-zakura), which are spectacular and reach their full bloom just after the regular blossoms here in Gifu. There are also a lot of food vendors near the entrance of the shrine, selling all kinds of festival food including favourites like yakisoba and taiyaki around the time of the Dosan Festival..

Cherry Blossoms line Inaba-dori in Gifu

The main shrine torii gate is great spot for a photo or two and is very picturesque.

Inaba Jinja Shrine Main Torii Gate

Another shot of the torii gate with lanterns and cherry blossoms

Inaba Shrine is only a short bus ride from Gifu Station. Get off at Inaba-dori bus stop and the shrine is only a 5 minute walk.

Address: 1 Chome – 1 Inaba-dori, Gifu-shi, Gifu-ken 500-8043

Here are a few more pictures for you to enjoy

Another shot of the beautiful Inaba-dori Street

The approach to Inaba Jinja Shrine

Shidare-zakura Cherry Blossoms

More beautiful cherry blossoms

Inaba Jinja Shrine with Cherry Blossoms

A look back down Inaba-dori from Inaba Jinja Shrine

Hatsumode ~ First Shrine Visit of the New Year

Happy New Year everyone from all of us here at Japan Australia! Today, January 2nd, we paid our first shrine visit of the New Year 2014. This custom is called hatsumode (初詣) in Japanese. It is tradition in Japan to visit a shrine or temple during the first few days of the New Year, usually January 1st, 2nd or 3rd. The main purpose of the visit is to pray for health, happiness and success.

We visited Inaba Jinja, which is the biggest and most famous shrine in Gifu City. Inaba Jinja or Inaba Shrine (伊奈波神社) was founded in 85 AD, so has a history of over 1900 years. It is a pretty special place to welcome in the New Year or visit for hatsumode.

Inaba Shrine in Gifu City

The crowds weren't too bad for New Year’s and we managed to do everything we wanted to do in around 90 minutes. The shrine had a fun festival atmosphere about it with the street vendors out in force, selling all kinds of Japanese festival food. The people around us were in a great festive mode as well and everyone was polite while paying their respects for hatsumode.

Street Vendors at Inaba Shrine

Here are some of the common customs done at hatsumode:

Osaisen 

Upon reaching the main shrine, a common custom is osaisen (賽銭), which is money offered to the gods for good luck. Simply throw a small coin like a 5 or 10 yen coin (5 yen is best) into the saisen-bako (賽銭箱) donation box, bow twice, clap twice, then pray to the gods for a happy and prosperous New Year. 

Osaisen at the main shrine

Omikuji 

Another common custom for hatsumode is to buy an omikuji, which is a fortune written on a small piece of paper. These cost 100 yen and can be purchased from many different locations around the shrine. There are typically twelve different kinds of fortune you can receive, but don’t worry! If your omikuji predicts bad luck, simply tie it onto the special rack or tree on the shrine grounds. This will ensure that the prediction will not come true. This year, I received Dai-kichi (大吉) ~ Great Blessing, which is the luckiest omikuji you can receive. Yatta!

Omikuji at Inaba Shrine

Yatta! I was lucky to get Dai-kichi ~ Great Blessing!

Hamaya 

A popular item sold during the New Year at Shinto shrines is a hamaya. It is a special good luck charm that is traditionally only available during the first few days of the year. A hamaya is basically a decorative wooden arrow sold at shrines to ward off misfortune and attract good luck. They are sometimes called “demon-breaking arrows”. Each shrine has its own unique design and they make a very cool decoration for your genkan (entrance at home) or souvenir. Traditionally, the custom was to place the hamaya at the north-east and south-west corners of the house, which were the most susceptible to evil influences. This year is the Year of the Horse, so hamaya will feature an ema with a horse.

Hamaya at Inaba Shrine

Amazake 

Amazake (甘酒) is a traditional sweet Japanese sake usually drunk to celebrate a special occasion such as the New Year. We finished off our hatsumode visit to Inaba Shrine with a cup of steaming hot amazake by the bon-fire. It was a great visit and we hope that 2014 will be a great year for Japan Australia and all our friends and followers.

Welcome to the New Year at Inaba Shrine

Hatsumode at Inaba Shrine in Gifu