Visit a Shinto shrine during New Year in Japan

“I've been to many shrines over the years. This year, I decided to make my maiden visit to the Kawasaki Daishi (川崎大師), or Heikenji (平間寺), founded in 1128. Kawasaki Daishi is the third most-visited Shinto shrine in all of Japan during the hatsumode period, with up to three million people visit the shrine during the first three days of January. The first thing you need to know about hatsumode is that there are tonnes of people, especially at popular places like Heikenji. Even though I got there early in the morning, there were already thousands of people in line, with more arriving by the second. Of course, since this is Japan, everything was quite organised. People waited patiently in line, with police and shrine staff directing traffic, allowing small groups into the main grounds every few minutes, everyone proceeding in the same direction in an orderly fashion.”