Early on New years Eve Noriko and i took the free shuttle to Marina City for a day at the ocean and to check out the Marina City pre New Years preparations...Marina City is about 10K from Kimiidera and is a man made island w/an amusement park and many eateries...Since foreign trade was strictly regulated and not every trader was allowed to trade in Japan and lots goods were smuggled in at ports distant from the capitol that may have resembled this reconstructed port town. The Marina City harbor is designed to look like a Portuguse trading port and it certainly does...a huge set of buildings resembling a Portuguese castle is an attraction in Marina City...while we were there an expert Tuna cutter (he was featured on Japanese TV) was cutting up Tuna w/surgical skill...as fast as he cut it the fish was selling like crazy for quite a lot hard earned Yen (six smallish sushi for 2,000 yen) or about $22.00...down the pier local bands were warming up and sound checking for the evenings concert...these guys were excellent musicians w/great talent and great music...i mentioned i had seen Janis Joplin and Frank Zappa as well as being of the "Woodstock" generation and they looked like what was that and who were they...LOL even the guys in their late 40's early 50's had no clue what i was talking about. The weather was clear and very cold and windy...we commented on that and were told "last year it snowed" so this was not bad at all...we got on the free shuttle and headed back to Kimiidera... My first time experiencing a Japanese New Years Eve and New Years day. Having spent all my New Years Eve celebrations in the US and a couple in SE Asia when I was in the service...my experience here in Japan was one of wonder and amazement. Noriko and I walked over to the Kimiidera temple area about 11PM and the streets were empty!!! I expected to see lots of people moving about eating and drinking w/the usual "noise makers" and a general party like atmosphere...but infact the streets were empty other than the food stand's (I bought a molten lava hot Takoyaki たこやきand burnt my mouth) and a small "Teddy Bear" game stand...Noriko said that in Japan things don't get going until after Midnight...we strolled over to the temple and climbed the 231 steps w/a few other people and families...upon arriving at the top it was almost completely empty of anyone. We walked around and did a bit of exploring we then settled down to await the 108 bell ringing and the fireworks show held at Marina City a town next to the ocean about 10K from Kimiidera...as midnight approached more people began to climb the "231"... infact the number of visitors increased dramatically and folks began to line up to ring the bell housed in a small building...at about 11:45 a camera crew from the local TV station moved in next to us on the temple wall to film the fire works...many other people gathered around to watch the fireworks...the excitement was electric and a small "test" firework was sent up...the crowd was really ready at this point then a wonderful mulit-colored firework went off and the happiness exploded as well...then the camera crew left and the crowd vanished and that was it!
I asked Noriko is that it and her answer was hai はい (yes)!
As the New Year approached Noriko and i lined up to ring the bell and got to ring it together. At about 1PM we decided to go home as we left huge numbers of people were climbing the stairs and the street vendors were happily selling food and drink...I bought a Teriyaki chicken on a stick and we shared it...first food of 2012!
We got to our apartment and had long Soba noodles...(long noodles mean long life)...the old year ended and the new began in a wonderful way.
At about 2PM we woke up w/the sounds of the real fireworks display...every thing begins late New Years Eve and very early for the New Year!
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