#hatsunuki

[redsamuraiii]

Hatsuhinode はつひので  (First Sunrise of the Year)

You may have heard of the Japanese legend that the sun goddess Amaterasu created Japan, so sun rises have a special meaning in Japan as its a sign of good omen. Japan or Nihon (Nippon) means “sun origin”. 

But you probably have not heard of the deity of New Year, Toshigamisama, who appears during the first sunrise of the year. So, watching the first sunrise is a way to welcome Toshigamisama and to pray for good fortune, health and happiness in the year ahead. This custom is called, Hatsuhinode. It’s also customary to visit shrines on New Year’s Day which is called, Hatsumoude. I also read somewhere that apparently, there are some martial arts school that even held an occasion called Hatsunuki or first sword drawing of the year that is usually performed at dawn at a Shinto shrine. 

On that note, Happy New Year, stay safe and stay healthy everyone.

Pic by u4_masa

[starli]

Happy New Year! 明けましておめでとうございます！ Lets have an awesome 2015!!

As usual, I woke up dark and early for Hatsunuki, this year 5:00 because I didn’t have to do much in the kitchen.

Also like usual, I look totally out of it. More like “WHY.” Haha.

Once I was dressed (It took two tries; I forgot the extra winter layers the first time) and ready to go, I headed over to sensei’s house.

Credit: Emily-sensei

Emily-sensei had lots of cute decorations. I got my stuff ready while she finished getting dressed and then got a little tour of the house. Since she retired, she’s been cleaning and decluttering a lot and it looks very nice! Her hard work is paying off.

Hatsunuki time was drawing near and it was raining. We normally do Hatsunuki in her back yard towards the sun, but we stayed indoors and did it towards her kamidana due to the weather. I didn’t need the extra layers against the cold.

There were only two of us this year, so it was pretty quick. Our dojo keeps getting smaller and our one other regular member is in Japan. ^^;

She made moffles out of maru mochi and we had breakfast!

This is the smallest Hatsunuki we’ve ever had, but it was nice. Time for another year of iaido!

Hatsunuki 2015 Happy New Year! 明けましておめでとうございます！ Lets have an awesome 2015!! As usual, I woke up dark and early for Hatsunuki, this year 5:00 because I didn’t have to do much in the kitchen.