１月１日（月曜日）２０２４
今まで大晦日の夜は８時ごろ、人がそれほどいない多賀大社でゆっくり年越し参りをしていましたが、今年は一度夜中の１２時近くに行ってみようと思いました。
時間がきて神社に行くとすでにかなりの人出。それも若者が大勢。古いお札（ふだ）を返して、拝殿に向かうも人が並んでいるようで動きがまったくない。参拝の順番を待っているようでもないので脇からすり抜けて正面に進んでみました。新年用に賽銭を入れる場所が広くとられてこの間見たしめ縄の下あたりからお参りすることになっています。とりあえず、賽銭を投げ入れてお参りしましたが、周りの人たちの様子が変です。賽銭を入れることも参拝することもなく、そこに立っているかスマホを見ているだけなのです。結構な人。私の参拝は終わりましたが、何だこれは？何か始まるの？と思って、少しそこで待つことにしました。携帯で時間を見ると１１時５８分。間もなく太鼓がドンとなって新年を知らせました。すると、どうでしょう！周りの人たちが一斉にお賽銭を投げて、手を叩いて参拝を始めたのです。そして次の人と入れ替わっていきます。こんな光景は初めてです。まるでアメリカでカウントダウンして新年を迎える時のよう。違和感でいっぱい。
Every year I visit Taga Taisha on the last day of the year at around 8pm. There are several reasons for me to do so. First, I go to a shrine at the end of the year rather than on the first day of the year because I have no time to run my cafe on new year's days which are the busiest days in the year. Second, I want to avoid crowds of people who visit the shrine to make wishes for the new year. However, this time, I decided to go to the shrine at midnight.
When I went to Taga Taisha, many people had already gathered there. Most of them were younger. However, they were not moving toward the front of the shrine and I wondered why. Since I wanted to go to the center to pray, I reached there weaving my way through a crowd and finished praying by offering some money. Then, I felt something weird because people nearby were not praying nor throwing money, and they were just standing or looking at their cell phones there. I didn't know what was going on, so I stayed a little longer to know what would happen next. It was 11:58 in the midnight and soon after, I heard a big drum sound to let the people know it started the new year. I saw all people started throwing their money into the offering area and praying in a shinto way. It was just like Countdown in the US and I had never seen such a sight in the shrine. It was very strange for me.
I went home thinking about my next visit to the shrine at the end of 2024. I prefer visiting earlier like I had been doing because I have more quiet time to pray and thank God for the year passing safely.
