This early morning, about after 1a.m., I went Hatsumōde(初詣) to my local shrine. It is only 3 or 4 minutes away from my house by walk.
Usually, it is empty. But, from New Year’s Eve to the first three days of the new year, it has events and some visitors for Hatsumōde(初詣). This year, it had Sinto music band and candles in bamboo pots and this was the first time for me at the place.
By the way, I translated 氏神様 into my local shrine. In a Japanese-English dictionary I have, I found ‘the shrine of the local Shinto deity’ as 氏神様. But this doesn’t sit well with me.
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Hey! Happy New Year over there (it's still 11:18 here).
Is that a ball of rice in front of the stone on the third picture?
Hi, your New Year already started because it’s 13:43 here.
Happy New Year to you once again!!
> Is that a ball of rice in front of the stone on the third picture?
Yes, exactly. They are two rice balls called Kagamimochi(鏡餅), they are very small type though. They sat on a piece of paper (半紙).
Hmmm, you used a rice ball as おにぎり/おむすび? They are not おにぎり/おむすび but もち, i.e. a rice cake.
Yeah is 2014 now for us as well.
Ah, I didn't know about the rice cake, we are not very creative with rice so I can only speak of a few things made of it ^_^;
I researched Hatsumode. Did you draw your luck? Was it good or did you have to hang it on a pine tree? XD
We always eat zōni(雑煮-ぞうに) at New Year's Day, zōni surely includes rice cakes(餅-もち) as one of its ingredients though it has various other ingredients depending on families and regions. Usually, we use different kind species of rice for rice balls and rice cakes. The nonglutinous rice for rice balls(おむすび / おにぎり) and the glutinous rice for rice cakes(もち).
> Did you draw your luck?
No. Unfortunately, the shrine provides no lucks(お御籤-おみくじ) because it is very small and less popular. But I brought an old luck I drew at 高住神社 to the shrine and burned it by the Kagaribi(篝火).
> Was it good or did you have to hang it on a pine tree?
The other kind of trees in shrines are also O.K. if not a pine. They usually make places for lucks at large shrines.