(A little girl waiting for her mom to finish praying in front of the main temple. They'd just placed coins inside the metal thing in front of them before praying. Some of the adults would put coins in, put their hands together, clap three times, and then pray.)
(Entrance to the Shrine. Juhee just woke up from a nap so wasn't in the mood for pics yet. :D)
According to Kansai Time Out, November 2008 edition: "This is an annual celebration for children who have reached three (san), five (go), or seven (shichi) years of age. Throughout the month, but especially on Nov 15, children are taken by their parents to a shrine to receive the blessings of the gods. The children are given chitose-ame (1,000 year old candy), which is like salt-water toffee and stretches to symbolize long life and good health. There are various accounts of the origin of this festival, but the one most frequently cited is the belief that children of certain ages were especially prone to bad luck. Traditonally, three-year-old girls would be given their first obi, and boys would wear their first pair of hakama at five years."
We went to the Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine (supposedly houses the Shinto gods of the sea, famous for its red Sorihashi bridge) in Osaka and I was a bit disappointed on our way there 'cause we didn't see a single child wearing kimono, but once we got there, there were so many! They were so cute in their colorful kimonos! There were a few dressed western style too but not very many.
The chitose-ame is the same as Korean yut 엿 which we give on special occasions like for college entrance exams (because it's sticky, it symbolizes the person taking the test "sticking" to the test, i.e. obtaining a good mark / score). We didn't see any, but we think that it's what the children were carrying around in long thin bags from one of the special stalls inside the temple area selling goods (toys, snacks, hot food were sold outside the actual temple area).
There were also groups of 2-4 women sitting on mats wearing kimonos in front of a sign and the parents were taking their child(ren) to them. We tried to wait around to see what happened but only caught the end of whatever was going on. We think that they were praying / blessing the kids.
Everyone seemed to have arrived in cars and no wonder. By the end of the walk around the temple, most of the kids were in their parents' (usually dad's!) arms or in a stroller. It can't be easy walking around in all that clothing and those Japanese sandals! There were lots of proud grandparents around too which was great to see.
It was great seeing so many families together celebrating this annual festival. :)
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