Red-flanked bluetail,Ruribitaki,ルリビタキ

In the category of the IUCN Red List :Least Concern

Category of migrant to Japan :Vargrant bird

                                          Male

                                           Female

Short-eared owl,Komimizuku,コミミズク

Itching it.........

Winter sweet, Robai、ロウバイ

When I walk in the park and the residential area at the beginning of the year, the natural tree flowers entering the eyes are mostly camellia and sazanka flowers. But Japanese allspice is called robai in Japanese, especially stands out. And a subtle fragrance heals the mind.

蝋梅や薄雪庭を刷きのこす(水原秋桜子）

                                Robai and

                                       Thin snowy garden

                                       Leave sweeping

Robai-ya-hakusetsu-niwa-o-hakinokosu (Mizuhara syuoshi ,1892-1981 is an obstetrician and haiku poetizer)

As a private interpretation of this haiku,

It is a mercy haiku, perhaps, the flower of the robai is scattered on the thin snow, maybe it to hesitates sweeping clean.

Chimonanthus praecox, also known as wintersweet or Japanese allspice, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Chimonanthus of the family Calycanthaceae, native to China. The plant is known as làméi (腊梅) in Chinese and rōbai (蜡梅^?) in Japanese.（quote from Wikipedia)

Smew,Mikoaisa,ミコアイサ

In the category of the IUCN Red List :Least Concern

Category of migrant to Japan :Winter migrant bird

Smew's face is like a panda bear, so it is called panda duck in Japan. 

                                     Images are male only.

The prey is like a young of channel catfish which grows tremendously in the Tone-gawa River system in recent years. 

Peregrine Falcon,Hayabusa,ハヤブサ

In the category of the IUCN Red List: Least Concern(Falco peregrinus  japonensis)
Category of migrant to Japan: Resident bird

New Year's visit to a Shinto shrine"Hatsumoude"初詣

The meaning of "Hatsumode" is the new year's first visit　to a shinto shrine.

Almost of Japanese people visit a shrine during the first three days of
January in order to make traditional New Year's wishes for health, happiness and etc.

Today, Monday 2,January 2017, I visited to the Shibasaki shrine which is said to
have been built in 938, the home town's shrine, following the Japanese custom. 

Worshippers pull on that rope to ring the bell which is a bell attached to the shinden is connected to thegate by rope. After that ,bow twice,clap one's hands twice,and then put one's hands together and bow again before you leave.

 

The worshipers usually purchase the wooden plate on which the respective wishes are written such as wish for the safety of family, a safe delivery, lucky charm for safe driving, for the success in a examination, attainment cherished desire.  

" Omiki" are prvided by the  shrine. Omiki is Sake.

 

  Burn last year's wooden plate

Appreciate Kagura. Kagura means Shinto music and dancing . 

Happy New Year in 2017

Mt.Fuji this morning at 7:01AM, Sunday,Junuary1, 2017

Kadomatsu

                                         Shimekazari, at my home

                                                       Nengajo,formal

                                         Nengajyo my designed

                                        

Ganjitsu,ガンジツ

Ganjitsu(January 1) is the day on which the birth of the new year is celebrated. Nobody works on the first three days of the new year, the period called sanga nichi,or shogatsu.

Shogatsu originally referred to the whole of January, but now is used just to refer to these three days. On these days, the people go to shrines, visit friends and relatives ,drink sake and eat special new -year dishes, called osechi. Children play(Japanese) cards,battledore and shuttlecock and fly kites. Shimenawa ,sacred rice-straw ropes,are hung across the top of the gateway,which is also decorrated with pine boughs or kadomatsu (gate pines).

The kadomatsu symbolizes a tree provided for the decent of the gods. This pine decoration is left in place from January the first to the seventh(until the fifteenth in olden times),

the period referred to as matsu no uchi.      (Quote from Nippon,July20,1982 published)

About Kadomatu and Shimekazari ⇓⇊

www.eikaiwagakushu.com/nihonbunka/kadomatsu4.html

  

Remarks column:

In late years, in Japan the scene which children play(Japanese) cards , battledore and shuttle cock and fly kites for New Year holidays, became uncommon. I think that these may be because they became able to often play IT apparatuses of smartphone, i phone.

And then

Almost of Japanese write a greeting card which is called"nengajo" of New Year, in December, and mail it. But we send the letter of being in mourning,when in a family has a dead person in the year.

In addition,

Postcard circulation of New Year cards published by Japan Post Co., Ltd. peaked at 4.46 billion sheets in 2003 and declined every year, and it fell to 2,853 million pieces in 2016.

Many factors for this decrease will be due to smartphone, iphone, and almost of company do

not use gradually.

By the way my number of new year greeting cards created is 110, but at the peak it was 330.

I will show my created new year's greeting cards:

This year is called the Year of the Rooster on Zodiac, which was imported from Ancient China.

The Zodiac has 12 animals, with one animal allocated every year and its order is immovable

So, many "Nengajo" with Rooster will designed.