December 31, 2004 - New Years Eve.

Ayuchi preparing a traditional dish (those are itty bitty fish eggs in the bowl) Masako, Yutaka, and I well into the evening. A questionable looking traditional dish (fish egg logs that look a bit like misshapen hot dogs. Mustering the courage... Waiting in line at the first temple The first bell. Sake from a famous guy. Kampai There was a large bonfire at every temple - it was a bitter cold night. The second bell Grilled squid guys at the final temple

Our host family, the Yamashita's, invited us to share New Years Eve with them. We arrived at about 3 in the afternoon and spent the following 8 hours eating traditional dishes and drinking sake and beer. Just before midnight we walked to the local shrine and lined up to make a prayer for the new year. After ringing the bell and making our prayer we enjoyed some large cups of sake served to us by a famous politician. Next stop was another temple with another bell to ring... And then yet another temple and another bell. We got home around 2 am and slept heavily after surviving our first Japanese New Year.

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