Akemashite Omedetou

In the same way that Christmas cannot be missed in America, the magic of New Year's Eve fills the air here.  The holiday lights still brighten the trees in the courtyard of HPAC in these all-too-slowly lengthening days of winter.  The shops in the mall dropped their sleepy gates one by one, the shoppers filtering out of the corridors towards warmer gatherings of family and friends.  Preparations for days of rest, of family, of friends, of temple visits, ringing bells, street food, good wishes and good will.  This morning we biked to Nakayamadera, a beautiful temple close to my home in Takarazuka.  As the morning opened in the bright winter sun, vendors were setting up their booths, cracking hundreds of eggs in preparation for the desserts and savory foods to bring in the New Year, putting out colorful banners, glowing against the blue sky.  Lightly peopled, the temple smelled of 30 yen incense and sounded of clunking bells, rung by those with wishes for now and for the coming year.  In the way that a concert hall can hold magic in the silence of sound, this collective preparation for a period of rest rings in the clear winter air, heralding a New Year.