On Friday (Dec. 30th), I went with my friends Leslie, Kirsten, and Ali to Comiket. Comiket is the world's largest comic convention. Over a three day period, more then 500,000 people attend Comiket. Comiket is mostly dedicated to Japanese anime and manga (comics). Fans also sell self published comic books. There's always a huge line to get into Comiket, so we arrived over an hour before doors were supposed to open. By the time we lined-up, there was already a giant crowd waiting that must have stretched around ten minutes away from Tokyo Big Sight (where Comiket is held). We huddled like penguins in the cold, until doors opened and we could go in. It was a fun day! We bought comics and looked at all of the people dressed in cool costumes. The event was huge, so even though we were there for a whole day we couldn't see everything. I'd definitely like to go again.
Saturday was New Year's Eve, which my friends and I decided to celebrate the Japan way. We bundled up in our warm clothes and went out late at night. We made our way over to Gojo Tenjin Shrine in Ueno Park. We wanted to do hatsumode, the first shrine visit of the New Year, which is meant to bring luck for the coming year. Japan isn't very strict when it comes to religion, but this is a popular tradition. The interesting thing about Japan is that it doesn't really matter which religion you consider yourself to be; you can still visit a shrine or temple. So that's what we did. We arrived at the shrine right before midnight and waited in line until it officially opened at midnight. Then people were allowed to go up and pray for good luck in the coming year. After going up to the shrine, visitors were offered cups of sweet sake. People could also buy good luck charms for the coming year and get fortunes. There was a big bonfire burning near the center of the shrine to dispose of good luck charms from the previous year. After getting some good luck charms, my friends and I headed in for the night. I bought a ceramic bell shaped like a dragon. This year is the year of the dragon in the Chinese zodiac, which Japan also follows. I was also born in the year of the dragon, so maybe this year will be lucky.
New Year's Day was Sunday. The New Year is a more important holiday in Japan than Christmas. It's a time when many people return to their hometowns and families gather together. My friends and I obviously couldn't spend the holiday with our families, so we spent it shopping and enjoying all of the New Year's sales in Harajuku (a section of Tokyo which is known for it's fashion). Stores in Japan have big sales on (and a little bit after) New Year's Day. Many stores sell lucky packs. Lucky packs are bags filled with many items, sold at a greatly discounted price. The catch is that you usually can't see what's inside the bag before you buy it. Many brand name stores sell lucky packs, especially clothing stores, but even stores like Starbucks and the Disney Store were selling them. My friends and I used this opportunity to buy some cute Japanese brand name clothes. In the afternoon we took a break from shopping and used Kirsten's iPod to tune into the online broadcast of the ball being dropped at midnight in NYC. It was kind of a surreal moment, realizing that I was in the middle of Harajuku watching the New Year arrive in America when it had already been the New Year for over half a day in Japan.
On January 2nd, Japan's Emperor gives an annual speech to the public. My friends and I decided to head into Tokyo and go see it together. January 2nd is also one of the two days during the year when parts of the inner ground of the Imperial Palace are opened to the public (with the other day being the Emperor's birthday). After the most polite and efficient bag search and pat-down I've ever experienced, we were allowed to make our way into the palace grounds. Everyone was given a paper Japanese flag to wave and it was off to the inner court of the palace to see the Emperor's speech. We got to the court just in time for the speech. The Emperor appeared with the royal family in a glass enclosed balcony. He gave a short speech about his wish for Japan's recovery. I was honestly expecting the speech and appearance to be longer, but the Emperor is getting pretty old and I've heard that appearing in public is getting harder for him. It was definitely a cool experience though. At the end of the day, my friend Kirsten had to take the bus back to where she lives in Shikoku. I was sad to see her go, but it was fun to see her. We were busy, but we got to do a lot of cool things!
I went back to work on Wednesday. The students don't start school again until next Tuesday. Then my routine will continue as usual. It was nice to have a break, but it's time to get back to work!
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