New Year in Miyajima Hiroshima. How to view Hatsuhinode

Konnichiwa!! This is Tomomi from Hiroshima.

It's already Dec 18th!!
We will have Christmas and New Year's soon!!! Time flies so fast...

New Year's is one of Japan's most important festivals.
Japanese people go to visit shrines for the first time of the new year, which is called Hatsumode(初詣).

On Miyajima Island, there are a lot of events around the new year and into the first weeks of January.

They will have Chinkasai Fire Festival on Dec 31st from 6PM. Groups of locals carrying huge flaming torches parade between the large stone torii gate at the end of the entrance of Itsukushima Shrine. 

The heat is so strong, you will forget the cold.

Itsukushima Shrine will open from midnight to 8pm on Jan 1st. Because it's SOOOOOOO crowded every year, the ferry runs every 10-15 minutes.


So, I recommend you go there around 1am to around 6am if you don't want to wait in the long line to Itsukushima shrine.

But it will be worth the visit!! Hatsuhinode(初日の出), which is the first sunrise of the new year, will be absolutely amazing.

初日の出

Why don't you celebrate New Year's in Japan and go Hatsumode!?
You will have an unforgettable experience.

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