十日戎 Toka Ebisu
十日戎の最終日、えべっさんの総本山、西宮戎神社に行ってきました。I visited Nishinomiya Shrine, Ebessan, on the last day of the three-day-festival Toka-Ebisu.正門。福男を決める競争のスタートラインです。毎年10日の朝6時、開門と同時に、何千人もの男衆がここから本殿目指して駆け出します。Main gate. This is the starting line of the race in which the top three winners are recognised as the year's "Men of Fortune". Every year, on January 10th, thousands of men start running for the main hall at 6 am when the gate opens.ご本殿。すごい人です。Main hall. So crowded!名物、お供えの大マグロ。A giants tuna as an offering.福笹を売る福娘さんたち。Lucky girls selling good luck bamboo branches.どの道もお店と人で一杯です。Every street is filled with stalls and people.ちょっとした遊園地も出現します。お化け屋敷も日が暮れて来ると、なかなか迫力がありそうな(なさそうな・・)? A traveling amusement park also appears. Does the haunted house look frightening enough after dark, or not quite?最後にもう一度、少し遠くから見た正門。The main gate again from a little distance away.えべっさん、残り福をほんのぽっちりお願いいたします♪Dear Ebessan, just a tiny bit of the last helping of luck, please☆January 2010 / Nishinomiya, Hyogo