New Year's

Sending cards.  Gathering up last year's straw ropes and paper streamers and charms from the temples and shrines. Bringing those things to the temple on new year's day [I think they are burned].  The temple is crowded with families.  The people slowly progress up the path to throw a coin in the bin and ring the temple's bell.  New charms are bought.  Mochi [chewy white stuff made from rice] is eaten in abundance.  Traditional card game.  [Japanese cards, not the ace 2 3 4 kind.]  My family watches the yearly music show on New Year's Eve.  [I'm a little disappointed I missed the more traditional cultural new year's eve event: the temple community taking turns ringing the bell 108 times over the course of 3 hours.]  Special holiday food for breakfast [even Japanese people admit that even though it is pretty, it doesn't taste good.]  Cleaning Grandpa's gravestone and bringing new flowers and incense.  Dinner with cousins and aunts and uncles and grandmas.

Kozenji.
[I actually found this picture on the internet because I forgot my camera!  
This whole area was filled with people.]