Shrines and Temples in Okinawa Day and Night

10 Photos from New Year's Day 2014

New Year's Day the sun shined down beautifully and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Never one to complain, I looked around for some clouds to help me.

At the time of the day we were out shooting, the light was fairly challenging.

So, I sneaked-off into the shade to shoot these fortunes.

The whole first week of the new year, people swarm to the Temples and Shrines.

After a while,  deciding the sun was to bright at some of them, we came up with a plan.

The Map It Okinawa Dude and I planned to do some night shooting.

We were at this small shrine, out in the country, in the afternoon.

The shadows and light were so horrible, I threw the images away, to save my reputation !

Lucky for us, a pretty gal came along and told us the place would be open at night.

 Nobody else, came along after dark, so I had plenty of time to use slow shutter speed.

 They didn't have one of those big bells, you ring with a log.

Did you know, they ring those things 108 times, for the vices of man ?

Well, I rang this one, just 3 times.  Don't try to guess why.

Next, we went to a real busy place in Nago City.

 It's a little tricky taking photos when lots of people are moving around.

So, I took a break and bought some trinkets, for good luck.

And, I got enlightened.

Quit shooting, where people are moving around and, aim higher !

This is the view looking down the street from (護佐喜御宮) the temple in Nago,   

also known as, MamoruTasukuki Omiya.

Otoshidama Japan's New Year Money Envelope: Insider's Tips

They are on the display racks already this year.  Otoshidama, the Japanese New Year's Money Envelopes, will be flying off the shelves from now until the holidays end.

Hello Kitty and some character named Stitch seem to be the most popular in my neck of the woods.

Kitty-chan was easy for me to figure out.  The thing opens up just like any other envelope.

Stitch, almost got destroyed by me trying to figure out where you stuff the money.

There, I snapped a photo so you don't have to drive yourself crazy looking.

Lucky for me, some kid was walking down the street and I asked him how you open the thing.

Walt Disney, or somebody, put these stickers in with the card.  So, I thanked the kid for helping me and gave him the stickers.  Kids love stickers.  Beats telling them to scram. 

I'm busy.

Here are three more, traditional New Year's Money Envelopes.

These are inexpensive, a ten pack goes for about 100 Yen ($1.25 or so) and you can find them at super markets, book stores, gift shops or convenience stores from November through New Years.

Children, if you haven't already guessed, are who receive Otoshidama money for the New Year.

The amount you spend on the envelopes isn't what matters; it's what goes inside.

Pocket change isn't what you stuff in them.

Crisp, brand new bills, neatly folded, are what you place in these envelopes.

Every kid in Japan, from newborns to High School graduates, that knows you, expects to see you giving out Otoshidama sometime in the first week of the New Year !

After you place the folded Yen notes in the envelope, your name goes in the block on the left,  the child's name in the block on the right side.

Really,  I'm a busy man. 

Didn't want to tell that kid to scram.

 Something to do with a bank. 

I have to plan.

Soon, it'll be Otoshidama time of the year, again !

FOR MORE ON JAPANESE MONEY ENVELOPES SEE JAPAN: INSIDER TIPS

Year of the Rabbit 2011 (Photo) Okinawa: An Insider's Tip

Here it is, New Years Eve, where I'm at anyway. I guarantee in the next few days I'll get tons of emails wishing me a Happy New Year. I know because I do the same thing as soon as Christmas is over. I start telling everybody to have a Happy and Prosperous New Year, right on through the first week of January. We all do it and it's a good thing. It sure beats talking about the weather.

The Year of the Rabbit is 2011 so, I dug up this photo that I shot back in 2007 to show you what a rabbit looks like in the wild, at night, with camera flash. That's if you don't want to use red-eye reduction on your camera or in editing afterwards. Some people I know will have eyes like this when the wake up New Years Day after a night of celebrating. In Okinawa, we have New Years twice!

The Western, Gregorian, Christian, whatever you want to call it, calendar that a lot of the rest of the world uses, is used in Japan, too. Even in Okinawa we have the Western calendar and celebrate the New Year like folks in the western world. The New Year will start January 1st and people will be popping champagne bottles, kissing strangers on the lips and singing Auld Lang Syne in Japanese in my bar tonight. And they'll be running around with hangovers for the next three days visiting temples to try and have good luck in the Year of the Rabbit, 2011.

It's good for business. People are already buying rabbit jewelry, bunny footed pajamas and slippers and probably wedding gowns with rabbits sewed on them. Some of them even buy pet rabbits for their kids. Then, when they get tired of abusing them, turn them loose, like the one in the photo above. That's no wild rabbit. He's a rabbit turned loose in the wild; a feral rabbit, I guess.

Here's a tip from an old Insider. According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2010 the Year of the Tiger, doesn't end December 31st 2010. The Year of the Rabbit starts on February 3, 2011.  That'd make New Years Eve the 2d of February according to my calculations.

Not one to put a damper on everyone's holiday celabrations I'm going to dig up that Auld Lang Syne music, buy some bottles of champagne and wash the wine glasses for tonight.

What the heck, I may as well trim the beard, get all spruced up and wear my Sunday best for the New Years Party. Even if some good lookin' stranger-gal doesn't run up and kiss me on the lips, it could be my dressed rehersal for the 2011 Year of the Rabbit New Years Eve Party in February!

WHEREVER IN THE WORLD YOU ARE PLEASE DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE.  AND, I WISH YOU AND YOURS A SAFE, HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR !



RELATED LINK: 2011 THE YEAR OF THE PARTY RABBITS