Japan
New Year's
A typical New Year's eve in Japan consists of going to the local temple at midnight and ringing the bell, drinking sake, visiting three shrines, drinking sake, and staying up to watch the first sunrise. A few days later, communities have a bonfire which serves many purposes: cooking, burning decorations from the recent festivities, and burning daruma (dolls which one buys at the beginning of an endeavour, for good luck) once their mission is complete.
A local shrine in Shinmaruko, which we visited on New Year's 2005
A daruma burning
