Shrines Adopting Virus Countermeasures before New Year's Visits

Tokyo, Dec. 19 (Jiji Press)--With many Japanese people planning New Year's shrine visits to pray for a better year after coronavirus-ridden 2020, shrines and temples around the country are adopting measures to curb risks of novel coronavirus infections. After the coronavirus outbreak began, many Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples removed their "hishaku" ladles for washing hands and "suzunoo" ropes for ringing bells, as infected visitors might spread the virus to others through contact with the items. Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto, western Japan, replaced its suzunoo in June with a speaker that plays the sound of bells when visitors pass their hands over a sensor. The shrine is considering removing the speaker over the New Year's period, when many people are expected to come, as the novelty of the tool may attract visitors and raise infection risks. Ikuta Shrine in Kobe, western Japan, has introduced a system of minimizing contact for "omikuji" fortunes. Instead of drawing numbered sticks from a box, visitors can scan a quick response, or QR, code with their smartphones to draw a number virtually, which they can show shrine workers to receive paper fortunes. "I hope people draw (omikuji) with their prayers concentrated in their fingertips," shrine worker Masaaki Sawada, 36, said. Concerns are also growing that the rush to visit shrines and temples for New Year's prayers may result in closed, crowded and close-contact settings, which are said to increase the risk of coronavirus infection. Meiji Jingu, a sprawling Shinto shrine in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, and Naritasan Shinsho-ji, a major Buddhist temple in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, each called on people to avoid visits on the first three days of the new year and not to come in large groups. The two sites are known for getting huge numbers of visitors. There are even moves to get visitors to pray before the turn of the year. Some shrines are distributing items of good luck for the next year ahead of New Year's Day. "There can be many forms" of prayers, a representative from Hiroshima Gokoku Jinja shrine in Hiroshima, western Japan, said, suggesting that prayers offered this year will be effective in bringing good luck in the new year. Kashima Jingu, a shrine in Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture, eastern Japan, is calling on people to visit not just on the first three days of the new year but during the first 33 days through Feb. 2. "By presenting this period for reference, we think visitors will be spread out," Tomonori Niikura, 42, a public relations official of the shrine, said. "The New Year is an important time for gathering with family members, so we want them to come visit while taking infection prevention measures." END