In Japan, many people watch the sunrise on New Year's Day. Angela and I got to watch the New Year's sun rise over the Pacific Ocean years ago in Souma, Fukushima. We wanted the kids to experience this Japanese tradition, too. So after staying up past midnight to see the the New Year in, we went to bed and rolled out again at 6 AM. We put on several layers of warm clothes, and rode our bikes in the dark to the foot of Futaba Mtn (about 1.25 miles away). Then we started our ascent up the small mountain, passing through the "ootori" gates below as we went, except it was quite dark and we had to use a flash light.
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| Ootori (Shinto-shrine gates) up Futaba-yama |
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| Going through the ootori. |
Though it was cold enough riding our bikes to Futaba, after climbing up it (about 325 feet up), we had to take a layer or two off. We had just got to the top here. There was a good breeze going, so those layers didn't stay off too long.
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| Warmed up, and ready |
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| The pre-dawn sky overlooking downtown Hiroshima |
A couple of minutes before the sun rose, two Buddhist priests came and walked around the top, chanting.
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| Chanting Buddhist priests |
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| Seconds away to the start of a brand new day! |
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| Sunrise has begun |
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| Moving on up |
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| Just a little more... |
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| All the way up! |
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| Some of the others watching it with us |
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| The people above us laughing and having a good time |
Starting the New Year off right in the Land of the Rising Sun.
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| Happy New Year! (Now let's go get warm.) |
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