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| Image by pngtree.com |
In the first few days of January, as is our tradition, the Rising Family™ kicked off the new year by visiting a nearby Shinto shrine. Like many other folks, we went there to pray for good luck, health and happiness in the coming year. Then, on January 20, I doubled-down on Japanese new year traditions by going to the Dondo-yaki festival at Umi no Koen (Marine Park), one of my favorite seaside parks in Yokohama, just 25 kms south of where we live.
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| Kadomatsu |
But what is Dondo-yaki? It's a traditional festival held throughout Japan in mid-January, marking the end of new year celebrations. Sometimes described as a “fire festival”, people burn decorations such as kadomatsu bamboo decorations they place near the entrance of their homes or businesses at the onset of the new year to bring good fortune. It's considered bad form to reuse these decorations, so they are dispatched in a huge, roaring bonfire to keep in good stead with the gods. You can also burn paper omikuji fortune scrolls or omamori amulets from last year, then buy new ones for good luck this year. After the fire’s intensity subsides, mochi rice cakes or sweet potatoes are roasted above it. As morethantokyo.com puts it to describe the festival’s spiritual complexity, Dondo-yaki are bonfires where communities burn their New Year's decorations while sending the god of the new year back to the realm of the spirits. My takeaway is I like the symbolic gesture of burning the markers of the immediate past and moving forward.
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| The pyres before the flames |
The Dondo-yaki festival at Marine Park is an annual family event. After we moved to Yokohama with the Rising Daughters™, one year we bundled them up and attended our first Dondo-yaki at Marine Park. This year, I went solo on my scooter since our now-teenagers deemed it "too cold and boring." Nevertheless, I was glad I went. The salty sea air, the scent of burning cedar and bamboo, and the savory food aromas were memorable. The low buzz of group conversations and the shrieks of kids having fun created a pleasant atmosphere to truly welcome the new year.
I strolled past stalls where you could buy street food, practice calligraphy, watch traditional dances, or purchase raffle tickets. Amid all this activity, three huge bonfires were set alight, surrounded by several hundred people, all kept safely away from the flames by local firefighting units.
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| Burn baby burn, Dondo Inferno |
As I wandered around the sandy beach and under the cedar trees to observe everything and stay warm, I contemplated the year ahead. Tradition and natural settings sometimes provide the most refreshing perspective on what the new year may bring.
😁😁😁
