I went for my first shrine visit of the year at Nishinomiya Shrine at around 8 a.m. on January 1!
For anyone planning to go from tomorrow onward, here’s what it looked like in photos.
Here’s what the entrance at the Red Gate looked like.
The food stall situation along Ebessan-suji. Maybe because it was still early, it didn’t feel all that crowded.
Just inside the entrance.
Right after entering, something was going on immediately to the right.
They were doing a super fun monkey performance. The monkey was a newcomer and was really cute!
They have goldfish scooping too!
There were all kinds of stalls inside the shrine grounds too, including character scooping, taiyaki, and more.
The chozuya, where you purify your hands, was still closed.
Maybe because it was 8 a.m., the area for charms and omikuji fortunes didn’t seem especially crowded. Omikuji are 100 yen. Tai-mikuji are 300 yen.
I tried drawing a tai fortune and got “half-luck.” Basically, it felt like it was telling me to just keep working hard. Nishi2 will do our best!
In front of the main shrine, at 8 a.m. on New Year’s Day, it didn’t look too crowded.
I only had to wait about five minutes to pray, which was nice! I’m sure it depends on the time of day.
There was also a shooting gallery on the route back toward the East Gate!
From Nishinomiya Shrine New Year and Toka Ebisu Event Information
There’s an Anya stall near the East Gate exit.
Sensei from Nishi2 also celebrated with New Year’s GPS art!
The “Lucky Man” race was what inspired Sensei from Nishi2 to become a GPS runner. He’ll be lining up again this year too. We’re hoping to bring you coverage of the Lucky Man selection and more through a live stream, so stay tuned!
So, what did you think of the first shrine visit of the year at Nishinomiya Shrine? Tomorrow, January 2, and January 3, the shrine will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. From January 4 to 8, it will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
