Kirishima Shrine is located at one of the peaks of Mount Kirishima. Since I stay in Kirishima onsen village, I just took a local bus from the Maruo stop, a 5 minute walk from the hotel. I could imagine it would be more difficult to reach from Kagoshima or other cities because the bus isn’t frequent. The bus ride to the Mount Kirishima was so scenic and beautiful, when looking carefully, I could see the Sakurajima on the background. In Japanese, hatsumōde means the first shrine visit of the New Year, where new year wishes are made and new omamori are bought. Like any major shrine, in Kirishima Shrine there were also a lot of local tourists visiting and many food stalls at the entrance. It was great for me to see the shrine were flooded by worshippers, who were queuing to pray. It was a unique experience to feel the shrine worship culture of Japan. Normally this shrine is simply tranquil and peaceful but now it becomes so festive. During the hatsumōde you can get a written omikuji that predicts your luck of the new year. Some say if it predicts bad luck, you can tie it on the shrine grounds, then its prediction will not come true. I got a “Middle blessing”, which isn’t bad at all. 
Kirishima Shrine has a spiritual location set among the mountains. 
Food stalls on the way to the entrance of the shrine. 
Get your omikuji here, good luck! 
Some other charms you can get For the new year. 
The bamboo New Year decoration – Kadomatsu that you can see everywhere. 
Worshippers were queuing to pray. 
Tie your omikuji onto the tree. 
Ema (wooden plaques with wishes) on display. 
Little girl in kimono. 
在日本，新年第一次的神社参拜叫做“初詣”。祈祷新的一年平安，日本几个最重要的神社每年新年期间都有成千上万的游人过来排队，合掌为自己和家人祈祷。 我刚巧也正逢新年，于是我也凑热闹去了离雾岛温泉乡不远的雾岛神宫。从雾岛温泉乡去神宫很容易，直接离酒店不远就有巴士，但是如果你从鹿儿岛或者其他城市要过来估计只能自驾了，因为九州地区的公共交通并不是很发达。雾岛神宫在九州地区，乃至整个日本都很有名，特地前来初詣的人络绎不绝，以九州本地人居多。以前对神社的印象停留在幽静又禅意，新年期间那么多人真是不一样，很有节日气氛，神社门口还有一排卖小吃的店铺，我买了一个可丽饼。 在新年第一次的参拜中，通常可以在神庙里抽取御神签，有人说如果抽到不算很幸运的签，可以把它们系在树上。但是我搜了一下，也有人说其实本来神签是应该系在神社的树上，意味着把你和神社的神的缘分系起来，谁对这个有研究的告诉我吧！我抽了一个中吉一个小吉，觉得既然不是大吉就都系在树上好了。 虽然现在穿和服参拜神社⛩的传统也是不多了，但还是发现不少小朋友都穿上了和服，好可爱啊。
