Naritasan-Shinshoji Temple

Japanese have a custom to visit Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines during the New Year holiday to pray for happiness in the New Year. There is a famous temple, which attracts the second largest number of visitors following the Meiji-jingu shrine in central Tokyo, near Narita international airport. It is Naritasan-Shinshoji temple. Over three million people visit there every New Year holiday. It takes about 10 minutes on foot from the nearest stations, JR Narita and Keisei-Narita station, to the gate through the approach. Many souvenir shops, restaurants and small inns line the narrow approach. The temple has a long history; actually it was established in 940 to make the eastern Japan area peaceful. During the Samurai period, a popular Kabuki actor had his son after praying there and many commoners wanted to visit there, so the temple allowed building of many other related temples, kind of branches, in many different places. One of them is in Fukagawa in central Tokyo. The precinct is large and there are several temple buildings. Among them five buildings including a three-story pagoda were built over 200 years ago and they were designated as important national assets. The temple enshrines Fdomyoo, a very scary looking deity, who enlightens the people by his over-powerful figure. The monks recite the sutras while building a bonfire and hitting drums. They say the deity goes up with the fire and receives a favor from the sky. There are many sects in Buddhism and the Shingon sect has this unique ritual.