Hatsumode is the Japanese custom of making the year’s first visit to a Shinto shrine during the early days of the new year. For some, the visit is to a Buddhist temple instead. Given that this was the first new year of the Reiwa Era, this year saw many visitors flocking to these sacred sites, but the big turnouts were not just limited to shrines or temples. There is a hatsumode spot in Ueno popular among those in the know: the Tokyo National Museum (TNM), a venue that could be called the “sanctuary of Japanese art.” The TNM holds a special New Year’s program every year called “New Year’s Celebration at the Tokyo National Museum (Hakubutsukan ni Hatsumode ).” Other than traditional performing arts such as taiko Japanese drum performances and shishimai lion dance, the museum’s collections related to eto, the Chinese Zodiac, as well as lucky omens are on exhibit during that time, attracting throngs of locals and people from all around Japan. If you want to fully enjoy a traditional Japanese New Year, why not mark a visit to the TNM on your calendar for next year? The many bringers of good luck will be sure to make you feel blessed and content.
On the second day of the new year, we visited the Tokyo National Museum to see the events of the New Year’s Celebration at the Tokyo National Museum program. Stepping into the grounds, we were immediately greeted by the thunder of taiko Japanese drums. A huge, excited crowd filled the area around the stage set up in front of the museum’s Toyokan (Asian Gallery) we barely managed to see between their countless heads blocking our view. The taiko performers pounding exuberantly on the drums were members of Shiraume-Taiko, an almost all-women Japanese drum team. The team carries on the legacy of the drum that was used to sound the time at the plum garden of Yushima Tenjin Shrine in Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo—a tradition dating back to the Heian period (794 – 1192). The performers vary widely in age, with even mother-daughter members in the team. The perfectly coordinated movements and performance of Shiraume-Taiko won enthusiastic applause from the audience.
Following the taiko performance, the crowd was charmed by the traditional festival music and dance performance given by the Kasaibayashi Nakamura Troupe. Kasaibayashi is a form of Japanese festival music that can be traced back some 200 years to the Kyoho era of the Edo period (1603 – 1868). The story goes that about a century later, near the end of the Edo period, many groups were born from Kasaibayashi, such as Kandabayashi, Honjobayashi, Fukagawabayashi and Tsukudabayashi, with their musical performances becoming an indispensable part of festivals in Edo (present-day Tokyo). And that is why Kasaibayashi is said to be the origin of Edo festival music. As can be expected from a new year’s event, their dance performance is full of elements that promise good fortune, from kagura sacred music and dance, to shishimai lion dance and the appearance on stage by Daikokuten, one of the seven gods of fortune. “Watching this each year provides me with a solid sense that the new year has arrived,” said one visitor who was clearly moved by the performance.
A flower arrangement by Yamane Yumi of the Shinsei school of Ikebana decorates the grand stairway of the Honkan (main building). It has a solid presence that is just as magnificent as the building. The ikebana arrangement also gives off an aura of freshness befitting the new year—most probably so because the flowers arranged are real. It may interest you to know that museums prohibit the bringing in of fresh flowers in order to prevent pests from entering the premises. The TNM, which has a collection of over 110,000 works, of which some 3,000 are exhibited in turns, has a regular system in place to ensure pest control. And when exhibiting flower arrangements in the new year, they say they take extensive precautions to prevent pests, including the use of pesticides.
A worksheet and calendar set, which is distributed every year, is always very popular among children.* This year, they were delighted to get a board game featuring mice—this is, after all, the Year of the Mouse. The story that unfolds is about a mouse who, hoping to marry a human, embarks on a trip with his attendant to fulfill this dream. But, strange as it may seem, the goal has the mouse becoming a monk and studying and practicing Buddhism with a monk who is a cat. This story is based on an illustrated short story called Nezumi no Soshi (Story of Mice), which dates back to the Muromachi period (around the 14th to 16th centuries) and enjoyed popularity during the Edo period. It was available on a first-come, first-served basis to 3,000 people each day on January 2nd and 3rd, starting from 11:00. On January 2nd, the day we covered this event, it was so popular that it was gone by just a little past noon. *The distribution has ended.
At the Museum Shop in the Honkan (main building), a New Year bargain sale was underway with exhibition catalogs and other books available at special prices. The prices of some catalogs were slashed down to half price or less, and were selling like hot cakes. This sale is also held annually, and apparently there are many who come every year for the bargain.
Ueno Park used to be the temple grounds of Toeizan Kaneiji, the famous temple of the Tendai sect of Buddhism. The traces of this past can be found here and there in the vicinity of the park, and you can still find Kaneiji Temple and its grounds in an area right near the park. To get to the main hall of Kaneiji, which is located behind the Tokyo National Museum, visitors usually have to walk around the museum, but a special route is made available only on January 2nd and 3rd, when the west gate of the museum is opened to provide a shortcut to the temple.
A leisurely 3- to 4-minute walk from the TNM west gate takes you to the main hall of Kan’eiji Temple. The new year is quiet here—so different from the celebratory atmosphere at the museum. Portraits of generations of Tokugawa shoguns and Four Heavenly Kings are on display. This is a spot definitely recommended for those who prefer their hatsumode visit to be a bit more relaxing.
At the conclusion of our visit to the New Year’s Celebration at the Tokyo National Museum, in exchange for the day’s ticket stub to the museum, we were given a piece of colored paper cut in the shape of a lotus petal. Called sange or ohanabira, they are used at the temple’s mass in the place of real lotus petals, and are scattered in the hall to purify it before welcoming Buddha, to extol the virtues of Buddha and to serve as an offering. But they can also be kept as a good-luck charm. Receiving a lucky charm at the end of the visit makes this a truly auspicious event. Why not make it a point to come here in the next new year?
Text: Yoko Yuda Photos: Implementation Committee for New Concept “Ueno, a Global Capital of Culture”
New Year’s Celebration at the Tokyo National Museum: New Year’s Celebration Events
Venue: Tokyo National Museum Duration: January 2 – 26, 2020 Time: 9:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (9:30 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays) <New Year’s Celebration Events> Duration: January 2 – 3, 2020 Japanese Taiko Drums / Shishimai Lion Dance / Clarinet Concert / Ikebana Flower Arrangement *Ikebana arrangement exhibited from January 2 – 13, 2020
