In some countries there is partying and debauchery, in others there's nothing because they believe the New Years starts on a different date. In Japan, however, there are shrines. In Japan it is custom to go to the shrines either on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. It seems to parallel Christian Christmas - the day before, the day after or both, it's your choice.
This year I went to two shrines in Mineyama. The first one is named Jotokuji). As you can see there is a lot of snow.
The custom is to go up to the bell, ring the chime once, clap and say a prayer. The idea is to scare away evil and bad luck for the new years. Here are pictures of the bell.
Most shrines offer saki and kuromame (sweet black beans) to also bring in good luck. Here are more pictures around the shrine.
There was also a second shrine named Konpirajinja located at the top of a few set of stairs. The picture below is of only one set.
At this particular shrine they had special food, charms, keitai (cell phone) straps and statues of animals depicting the new year. Last year was the Ox, this year is the Tiger. I was also excited to receive special New Years candy. This candy is especially hard and sweet. The idea is to use the mini mallet to break off pieces. It was a little difficult to no smash the candy into a thousand pieces but definately worth it.
If you get the chance to be in Japan during the New Year I would highly recommend seeing a shrine. It's a different experience and certainly more interesting than church, in my opinion.
-Rob
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