Ikebana and the sign of the year

Here is my New Year Arrangement.
We Japanese arrange flowers, ikebana for festive events beginning with the arrangement for the New Year. The typical materials are pins, bamboos and plums. They express an auspicious feeling for the New Year cerebration. For this New Year I chose and arranged pine trees, red berries and three white chrysanthemums with a hanging scroll drawing a crane in Indian ink. A crane is a symbol of longevity and prosperity in Japan.

This year, 2012 is the year of the dragon. In this reason I also decorated a beautiful iron ornament of dragon in the alcove.
In Japan there are the signs of the zodiac which correspond to twelve kinds of animals, a rat, an ox, a tiger, a rabbit, a dragon, a serpent, a horse, a sheep, a monkey, a rooster, a dog and a boar.
So the animals can express one's age.
Do you know your animal of the zodiac?
I was born in the year of the tiger... Who is counting on my age??
今年は若松、千両、白菊を生けてみました。信楽の壺とバランスも良くて自分でも気に入っています。龍の置物は主人のお気に入りのものです。日本には干支があって年賀状を飾ったり、その年の干支で占ったりして楽しいのですが、干支で歳がすぐに分かってしまうのがどうもねぇ～でも今や開き直ってしまう歳になりました！おめでとうございます！？

New Year's Eve and Jyoya-no-kane

　New Year, SHOGATSU is generally celebrated for the first three days or the first week of January and it is the most important period for Japanese. Schools and businesses close for one or two weeks around New Year,SHOGATSU and many people who live away from their families return home to spend this time with their families, it is just like Christmas time in European society;a happy, enjoyable moment with families.
On New Year's Eve, we ring out the Old Year and ring in the New Year. We call it JYOYA-NO-KANE and we toll a temple bell 108 times whose number is human worldly desires. Don't you know that we have so many worldly desired?! I really love and enjoy listening to this boom of a temple bell in the end of the year. If you visit Kyoto, you can listen to the beautiful sound of a temple bell. When I listen to it, my heart resonate with the tone of the bell and it makes me refresh! If you are interested in the bell tone or something in Kyoto, give your comment on my blog.
On the eve night my husband and I went to Yasaka-shrine which is dedicated to the deities of expelling evil and prospering in business. There were already many people around the center of the shrine and some people buy lucky charms of New Year and some people drink sacred sake,I'm sure it must be good!
And then we visited Chion-in. This temple is the head of the Jodo sect of Buddhism and also the mausoleum of Honen, the founder of this sect.We wanted to see the giant bell, which weighs roughly 70tons, is struck by 17monks on the New Year Eve.
But, but unfortunately there were too crowded to see it! You have to wait for more than two hours! Alas!! We learned from the experience... OK, next time we will carry hot drink,some snacks and two small chairs! Maybe we need cards??? huh?

あけましておめでとうございます！
皆様はどんなお正月を迎えられましたか？
私たちは暮れに、近くの八坂神社、知恩院、清蓮院に行きました。
知恩院の除夜の鐘をとても楽しみにして行ったのですが、残念ながら
あまりのその行列の長さにあきらめて隣の清蓮院で鐘をついて帰ってきました。
次回は温かい飲み物やおつまみ、そして椅子を持参しようねと話し合いながら
年越し蕎麦もしっかり食べて家路につきました。