On New Year’s Day especially, prayers pile up at Shinto shrines and ... which is dedicated to Okuninushi-no-mikoto, the Japanese god of matchmaking. “Pray for a happy and healthy baby to ...

Rather than making (often overly) ambitious resolutions for the new year, why not try your luck with the array of auspicious Japanese new ... believed that your first prayer of the year at the ...

New Year's Day is not just the first day of the year in this country — it has a special meaning. Jan. 1 is when people invite a god into their homes — the Shinto deity that presides over ...

"Omamori" are essentially prayers or sacred inscriptions inside small, colorful brocade pouches sold at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples all across Japan. In Japanese “omamori ... or during certain ...

A group of men bathed in ice water yesterday to purify their souls and wish for good fortune in the new year in a Japanese new year ... gathered together in prayer before participating in the ...

Taiko drums and a traditional rice cake pounding ceremony ushered in the Japanese New Year Sunday as part of the free Oshogatsu Family Festival in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo. Hundreds gathered at ...

Shōgatsu is the most significant event on the Japanese ... prosperity in the year ahead. The shōgatsu season runs through January 7, or January 15 in some regions. While New Year’s Day ...

HONOLULU (KITV4) -- A decades-long lucky tradition of ushering in the new year with a blessing starts at midnight on Dec. 31. A Nuuanu Shinto shrine holds one of the largest celebrations of its ...