Japan 1/11/09

Today was another part of the New Years celebration... the official burning of last years daruma dolls. Again, apologies that I don't have my photo tuning software with me. Anyway, about a week ago the people who live in the immediate area constructed the tower shown below. Each area builds their own tower. The inside of the tower is filled with daruma dolls and hay.


















That's Hiroe and Kaho, wearing their finest witches attire. Actually, it was just clothes to keep warm. Junior is on Hiroe's back. The door to the tower is shown in the photo.

























This morning at about 9 AM they set it on fire. I have video of the event, which is why I don't have any photos of the whole tower on fire.

























I guess they used to start earlier - at maybe 6:30 AM. I don't know why they started later here. It would have been cool to see the tall fire in the dark before dawn.












Once the initial fire dies down, everyone takes out long sticks and starts cooking what looks like marshmallows. Actually, it's a kind of edible silk. Unfortunately, they take a long time to cook. Hiroe brought marshmallows, which cook quickly, and we made s'mores. We were the only ones making s'mores.












So many people trying to cook the silk balls...












But since they take so long to cook, many people stopped and instead had soup that one woman was serving. In fact, Mr. Akimoto just went home and stuck the balls in the microwave.












The kids back at the house.












And here's some other random photos I found on Hiroe's camera. Junior enjoying a bath...













And this is from the Duruma temple...