New Years Weekend: Fushimi-Inari Shrine

Happy Sunday everyone! :) 

I hope your weekends have been relaxing ^^

During winter break, my friend from back home came to visit me while she was in Japan and we both agreed that going to Fushimi-Inari was at the top of our list of things to do while she was here. Fushimi-Inari Shrine is the head shrine for more than 30,000 Inari shrines that are located throughout Japan. These shrines are dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice and because foxes are said to be the messengers for Inari, there are many fox statues placed on the grounds. Fushimi-Inari is also one of the most popular and visited sites in Kyoto, famous for its thousands of orange torii that are donated by businesses and merchants in hopes of having a prosperous and successful year. These torii form a spectacular orange tunnel for visitors to walk through.

 My friend and I forgot that because it was still New Years weekend, many people would be flocking to the shrine as well.

Many kitsune statues were placed around the grounds as they are seen as the messengers for Inari. 

 Before entering, one must cleanse themselves. This is done by using the scooping water into the ladle and washing both hands as well as rinsing one's mouth.

 A good portion of our walk was following hundreds of people in a line as they made their way up the mountain as well.

 There were several side-trails and this resulted in a rare shot of an empty tunnel

 For those who are unable to donate a large torii, purchasing a much smaller one was an option. 

A sea of people as far as the eye could see... 

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a wonderful week!

New Years in Japan

Happy Friday everyone~ :) I hope you're all enjoying your winter break so far!

I went to Ikuta Shrine on New Year's Day and wanted to share some of the photos that I took with you all :) Vendors lined the street leading up to the shrine and the food that they sold....I wish I could have tried everything!! The shrine was quite crowded, but it was such a wonderful and memorable experience ^^

 Reading their omikuji to see what kind of luck they'll have for this year

Fences, posts and more were filled with omikuji that had been tied by people after reading them

I don't think I've ever seen this much garbage outside of stores and shops. All part of the new year festivities :)

Thank you so much for reading :) I hope you all have a happy and healthy new year!

New Years in Japan

Happy New Year everyone!! :) It's the beginning of another year and a fresh start.

In Japan, New Years is the most important holiday of the year- equivalent to Thanksgiving and Christmas for us back home :) It is seen as a day for families to spend time together, although many people also go shopping as stores have good deals and "lucky bags". These bags can be purchased from a range of prices and usually contain merchandise worth more than what the customer pays. So, if you buy a lucky bag for 10,000 yen, inside will have things worth at least double the amount. The only drawback is that you don't know what's inside the bag, so it's based on luck hence the name :)

Osechi-ryori are traditional Japanese New Year foods and although people make it themselves, many people opt to buy it from stores because it saves them a great deal of time. The foods are neatly arranged in boxes called jubako (usually) in three tiers. Each dish has a special symbolic meaning behind it. Usually back home in Hawaii, my family and I all get together and make an abundance of yummy food. However, because I celebrated New Years in Japan this year, I was on my own to make osechi-ryori and although it definitely isn't as fancy or good as ones that people buy, I was still very pleased with the results :)

 Nishime is a stew-like dish that has a variety of vegetables and also meat. My Mom uses pork, but I decided to make mine with chicken instead :) It takes awhile to cook because certain ingredients are added throughout the cooking process, depending on how long they take to cook. I made mine with chicken, takenoko, hasu, gobo, konnyaku, beans, shiitake mushrooms and carrots. Below are some of the symbolism behind the foods:

Gobo: because it is a long root, gobo symbolizes a long, stable life. I also heard that it's supposed to symbolize strong family roots as well :)
Hasu/Renkon: the various holes in the lotus root are supposed to allow people to look through the new year ahead of them
Flower-shaped carrots: This is a fertility wish as plum flowers bear one fruit

 Soba is often eaten on New Year's Eve as the long noodles represent crossing over to the next year. Kamaboko is a celebratory food as its colors symbolize the rising sun.

 This was my first time eating kuri kinton which is a combination of sweetened sweet potatoes and sweet chestnuts. So...it's kind of sweet >.<;. Its golden yellow color represents one's wish for a financial success in the upcoming year as well as wealth.

Kuromame are black soybeans that have been cooked in a sweet sauce for a long time and symbolize good health.

Tazukuri is a dish made from dried sardines that have been roasted and cooked with a sweet soy sauce and sesame seeds. The recipe called for honey, but I accidentally bought pancake syrup instead because I didn't read the label -____-; Still tasted fine to me! :) This dish represents a bountiful harvest as the kanji for tazukuri  （田作り）means "making rice fields".

Thank you so much for reading :) I hope you all have a wonderful and safe New Year!

Nishiki Market: Tasting a Bit of Kyoto's Culture

Happy Monday everyone!! I hope you're all enjoying your winter vacations with your loved ones :) And it's almost the end of 2013! I seriously don't know where the year went--time seems to have gone by so quickly.

My friend and I went out into Kyoto again, but this time, we decided to visit Nishiki Market which first started out as a fish market in 1615. Today, the market has more than a hundred vendors and shops that sell things from fresh miso to dried fish and handmade hashi. It was bustling with people- both locals and tourists and it was so much fun to try sample after sample as well as buy a few goodies to snack on throughout the day :) Not gonna lie, I had to eat something while I looked through the pictures because I got super~ hungry. Enjoy!

I hope you enjoyed looking through some of the food that was sold at the market ^^ Thank you so much for reading and have a wonderful winter vacation! Don't forget to stay warm :) Are you doing anything in preparation for New Year's? :D

Merry Christmas!!

Happy Wednesday everyone and Merry Christmas from Japan!!

This is my first time spending Christmas away from my family and while it can be pretty hard and lonely, I think it makes so many smaller things that we might take for granted, matter that much more. Emails make me absolutely giddy, letters make my entire day and skype sessions leave me happy for days. 

Last Christmas, I saw gift ideas on Pinterest and made candy sleighs for my friends. This year, I wanted to make the sleighs again, but for my teachers :) It took awhile to make and required multiple trips to school to bring them all, but it was well worth it when I was able to see their expressions when they saw the sleighs sitting on their desks :)

Thank goodness my town has a Costco nearby! 

Several hours later :D 

 I think the green granola bar added a nice touch of festivity to the candy cane :)

My little space to decorate at school! :) I had so much fun making Christmas decorations ^^

I hope you are all keeping yourselves warm and filled with yummy food! Don't forget to leave cookies and milk for Santa (he works hard to give presents to all the children in the world on time ^^) and soak in the excitement and anticipation for tomorrow. Enjoy the company of your loved ones and may your living rooms be littered with piles of Christmas wrappings and ribbons :) Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!!