I went for hatsumode (the first shrine visit of the year) at Ebessan (Nishinomiya Shrine) around noon (^ ^)
The weather was great, and it wasn’t as cold as I expected. Perfect weather for hatsumode!
The closer I got to the Akamon Gate, the more crowded it became.
Here’s what it looked like around the Akamon Gate↓
Here’s the area in front of the main shrine building↓
There was, of course, a line for omikuji fortunes too (^_^;)
By the way, my omikuji was “kichi” (good luck) (^O^)／
After entering through the Akamon Gate, there was a crowd gathered on the right…
The hint is the person in yellow…
The answer was a monkey performance (^O^)／ The colors felt so festive!!
Lastly
By the time I was leaving Ebessan, the crowds had grown, and lines had formed at the popular food stalls too.
At the coin parking lots around Hanshin Nishinomiya, the ones closest to Ebessan had lines of cars waiting to get out!
It might start getting a bit crowded from around noon, but
why not go and get a head start on some good fortune before Toka Ebisu? (^O^)／
