Japan New Year traditions with underwater twist

Monday, January 04, 2010
TOKYO: With the New Year's holiday season almost over, many people resumed business on Monday (January 4), the first business day of the year, and offered prayers at a shrine in downtown Tokyo.

Hundreds gathered at Tokyo's Kanda Myojin shrine, which enshrines a god of business, to pray for a better year in 2010.

Many sat inside its main shrine to have their "evil spirits" driven away in a traditional rite.

"Financial institutions seem to be gradually recovering, so I have high hopes that the economy may pick up this year. Well, life can be miserable without hope in the first place," said 48 year-old business owner, Yoshiharu Asanuma.

Another visitor, Junko Asai, prayed for something more personal.

"This year, I'd like to have a baby," said the 36-year-old asset management director.

Meanwhile, one aquarium in Tokyo decided to take the country's New Year's tradition of wearing a kimono a step further, and introduced a kimono-clad diver.

"In Japan, we traditionally wear a kimono and visit shrines for New Year's, we thought it would be nice to take this tradition underwater and give our visitors New Year's greetings," said Satomi Kawaguchi, spokeswoman for Sunshine International Aquarium in Tokyo.

"It's hard to look feminine and elegant while doing this job," the aquarium's kimono-clad diver, Hitomi Ito, she added.

The kimono-clad diver fed and played with baby sharks, huge eels and rays, among other sea animals.

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