Winter in Japan

About 0.7% of Japanese are Christians, but almost all like to cerebrate Christmas. Especially Christmas Eve is the day when young couples go out, enjoy the Christmas illuminations, and have their romantic dinner at a fancy restaurant.
The picture of the motor bikers in the Santa Claus’ outfit was taken in front of Shinjuku Station, the world’s busiest train station. I took this picture when I visited my family during the Christmas of 2016. They just cruse for fun. Christmas for most Japanese is more a festive event and not religious.

The crowd is climbing up the many stairs to the famous shrine, Hachimangu, located in Kamakura, 40 miles from Tokyo. I took this picture in 1-02-1017.

Many Japanese people visit the shrine the first week of the New Year, but the highest turnout day is the first day of the New Year. People pray for happiness, health, and wealth in the new year. The prayers go to their own favorite shrines. When I lived in Japan our family tradition was to go to the Hachimangu Shrine.

This is a traditional Japanese’ New Year Meal called Osechi. My sister-in-law prepared this for my husband and I when we visited Japan. Osechi and Ozoni soup are served for the first three days of the New Year for most Japanese families.