Friday, January 05, 2007

How to get some change


This is the most popular shrine in Japan and three millions people visit there in three days of New Year season.

By the way, we throw into a box, called saisen-bako, to pray for gods. We used to present some kinds of foods to the gods because the gods are the ones of agriculture. The food change into coins perhaps because it is hard for people working in shrine to clean up the rotten food.

People throw coins, which are about from 5 to 100 yen. Some of them present a 10000 yen bill. Assuming that a person give 10 yen to shrine, the shrine get 30 million yen in three days at least.

I really recommend you to wear some clothes with hood and you to pray just in front of the box for the coins. Some of prayers throw coins towards the box but the coins don't reach the box. If you are lucky enough, some changes can slip into your hood. ..

Oh, I seem to be impious....

6 Comments:

At 3:21 AM, Blogger -ian- said...

i am dreaming about TOkyo.
I am interested with the picture. It shows how Japaneses still believe in this tradition in the middle of the globalization era. I don't know how it still lasts till now. What made it everlasting actually?
It is different with what happens in my country.

 
At 3:57 AM, Blogger Felicia said...

In our fountains here people throw coins a lot. What do they do with all the money?

 
At 6:58 PM, Blogger Ben Nakagawa said...

I always do with 5 yen and absolutely not for 10 yen. Macky knows why.

 
At 3:29 AM, Blogger Ming the Merciless said...

Interesting tradition. What do people pray for? Health, wealth, prosperity, love, or all the above??

 
At 9:47 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

Thank you for the comments:-))
septian: The customs last just because people are likely to be consevative, I think. Some book says that people living in the middle of US go to church more often than people in UK and France...
felicia: Umm, because money tells eventually???
ben: I also do with 5 yen. 5 yen is a lucky coin because 5 yen, go-en in Japanese, has another meaning, a bond to good and lucky things.
ming: As you imagined, I usually pray for the health, prosperity and happiness. What do people pray for in church in your country??

 
At 4:07 AM, Blogger Ben Nakagawa said...

yap, and 10 yen is translated to tou-yen which means your luck will be leaving from you.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home