初詣で (The First Visit of the Year to Shrines)

　新年を迎えて各地の神社や寺院は、初詣客でにぎわっているようだ。大阪では大晦日から好天に恵まれ、住吉大社には31日夜から元日までに、昨年を5万人上回る約165万人が参拝し、2日も境内はごった返していたという（3日付け毎日新聞）。私は昨日午後ウォーキングに出て、蜂田神社（堺市中区）のそばを通ったが、参拝はしなかった。人混みにもまれなくても、心に決するものがあれば、参拝の意義は達せられる。（写真は「初詣」の旗を掲げる蜂田神社。年末に撮影。）

Around the New Year's Day, shrines and temples in every region of Japan seem to be crowded with visitors who make their first visit of the year. From New Year's Eve, it was blessed with excellent weather in Osaka. According to a report of the January-3 issue of The Mainichi Shimbun, about 165 million people (more than last year by 50,000) visited Sumiyoshi taisha to worship, from the night of December 31 to New Year's Day, and the shrine was also much crowded on January 2. Yesterday afternoon, I made walking exercise, passing by the Hachita Shrine (Naka-ku, Sakai), but did not worship. We can achieve the same purpose without joining the crowds, if we make some New Year resolution in our mind. The above photo (taken on December 31 2011) shows the Hachita Shrine with flags of hatsumōde (the first visit of the year).