Japan is Awesome – Hatsumode

Happy Year of the Mouse!

Apparently in China, they call it the year of the rat, but I’m in Japan… and I like mouse better.

Every year, I do a Hatsumode (pronounced hah-tsu moe-day ) , a little pilgrimage to the local shrine. Literally, pilgrimage is what the “mode” part of Hatsumode means. I think part of it is a scam. You throw away your old lucky charms/talismans and buy new ones. Because they only last for the year you bought them. You can’t throw away your talismans anywhere except a temple. So they keep you coming back. And everyone, I mean everyone, goes to Hatsumode.

This year, I went to a different one from usual. I work in Ichikawa, and this one is in Ichikawa. It took about an hour of waiting in line to reach the main shrine.

And I got my fortune. Chukichi, or mid-level luck. So that means this next year has to be like 70-30 effort over luck. Gotta crack down!