New Year in Kyoto: Ringing Out the Old Year and First Devotions

The ringing-out of the old year takes 17 monks to swing the hammer.

Throngs of worshipers thread their way among the stalls to cover every square inch of the approach to the shrine.

Shrine visitors head up a path lined by the senbon-torii at Fushimi Inari Taisha.

The Nishirōmon gate of Yasaka Shrine is colored in bright vermillion.

Okera-gi wood, whereon wishes are written, are burned in an okera lantern, and the flames, which worshipers take away with them on match cords, are used in lantern lighting for placing offerings on a Buddhist altar, as well as for lighting stoves to prepare zōni, a traditional New Year’s soup.

On the expansive grounds of Heian Jingū shrine, worshipers offer prayers for a new year free of illness and disaster, and generally hoping for peace and safety.