On New Years Eve we also went to the Hongakuji temple on our way back home. This temple is beautifully decorated with lighted lamps “akachochin” (red lamps) and “shirochochin” (white lamps).

This is the Ebisu-do Hall built by the 1st shogun Minamoto Yoritomo to honor the guardian gods of the village. Ebisu is the Japanese god of fishermen, good luck, and workingmen, as well as the guardian of the health of small children. He is one of the Seven Gods of Fortune and the only one of the seven to originate from Japan. And Kamukara with a border on the sea, Sagami Bay, has lots of fisherman.
Nichiren lived in this hall to continue his missionary work. He was a Buddhist monk and is credited with founding what has come to be known as Nichiren Buddhism, a major school of Japanese Buddhism.
In 1436, the main temple got built and part of Nichiren’s ashes were brought here.

The main temple.

During the New Year holidays crowds come for the Ebisu festival and lucky maidens “Fukumusume” distribute sacred sake to the temple visitors.

At the beginning of the new year the temples will chime their bells with the magic number 108 times. This is to finish the old year and welcome the new one. Each ring represents one of 108 earthly temptations a person must overcome to achieve nirvana.
Every body can ring the bell and you stand in line and pay 100 yen.

Then you pull the rope and the wooden block hits the big bell which resonates for a long time.

And the new year begins! GOOD LUCK in 2009!!!!