On Monday (11th) we took Noah to do his Omiyamairi, or first visit to a Shinto shrine. He isn`t quite a month old yet but I wanted to do it while my mum was still here and before it got even colder in late January or February (although Monday was freezing anyway!). Traditionally baby boys were taken on their 31st day of life and baby girls were taken on the 32nd day of life- it is done so that they are introduced to the shrine and to the Shinto gods.
My MIL bought Noah (although traditionally it is the maternal grandparents that would buy the outfit) a white outfit to wear for the occasion. It was very girly but the shop assistant had assured her that the same outfits were worn buy boys and girls. It reminded me a lot of christening outfits. Some babies are dressed in kimono instead but I told her not to bother shalling out that much money for an outfit he would only wear once (although I guess the white outfit would of been expensive too)
Since it was a public holiday the shrine was pretty busy- there were others there getting blessings too but we didn`t see any other babies getting blessed. We had an appointment at 12pm and went in with about 40 other people. They read out Noah`s name, our names, his date of birth and our address- Shun also went up to bow to the Shinto priest on our behalf. Noah slept through the entire thing except when they banged the drums when he woke up with a start (both times!)- we also got some gifts for Noah from the shrine including chopsticks to use when we give his first solid food (not quite sure how you can use chopsticks to eat rice cereal but oh well), some sweets, a couple of good luck charms and an ema (wish card?) to write our hopes for Noah.
Afterwards we took some photos outside the shrine (the shrine where we did it is near Shun`s parents place and the shrine they visit each new year and for other events- we do not know of any local shrines near our apartment so we choose to go there as Shun also did his omiyamairi there and so did his brother) and then went to a local Chinese restaurant for lunch (in which the waitresses gushed over Noah and his cute gaijinness and also on how “small” he is- I did not tell them he was less than a month old!)
Photos from the day (more in the album here at flickr)
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I am just a twenty something Aussie girl living in Chiba, Japan with my Japanese husband trying to make sense of the crazy Japanese world we live in! We welcomed our first son in December 2009 (Noah) and a second son in January 2011, 2 months premature (Shion). I am working hard at raising them to be confident, bilingual, happy kids!
What gorgeous photos! You have a very good looking family for sure, so it’s no wonder Noah is so adorable. Hannah slept through her omiyamairi until they banged the drums and she cried. Apparently this means they will have a good voice in the future (think that might be the reason why they do it!). Sounds as if they gave you the eating set for the ceremonial first meal at 3 months, where baby is just offered food, but not for the eating..bit cruel, ha ha! You look amazing post-partum, radiant Mummy
You guys look fantastic – life with baby suits you well!
Noah is such a beautiful little bundle. I bet he makes you smile 100 times a day
Ohhhh they are such great pictures! The one of the three of you is just beautiful! Miyamairi is such a great festival yeah? I love that you did it while your mum was here, too.
Happy Miyamairi Noah and best wishes to you all for 2010.
Love the pics!
What a nice tradition to do the Omiyamaeri at the same shrine where Shun did his.
My parents were here for A’s and it was really nice to have both sides of the family in the pics.
Thats a great photo of the three of you!!!!
We never did an Omiyamairi for Misora, oh well.
Ohhh how exciting it must have been celebrating Noah’s first “special occasion”! I think it’s lovely that you did it at the same temple where Shun had his. Love the photos – especially the last shot, he sure is a good looking kid!
We did Shou’s when Mum and Dad were here and Marina’s when my sister was here. Ryu didn’t get a proper one!! Shou got the white gown and the kimono drapped over him (borrowed), Marina just got the gown and the first time Ryu went to the Shrine (after New Year) I think he was wearing a racing car jumper… !!
Great pics and so nice that it was done at the family Shrine.
The photos are just beautiful and I agree it’s nice that you went to the family Shrine. I love the picture of you, Shun and Noah. You both look so incredibly happy and are both glowing!
Lovely photos. Too cute!
We think Noah’s gotten bigger since we saw him last week… he’ll be a chubber in no time!
What a beautiful family! In the last one I think Noah looks so much like you (well from what I can tell from your photos anyway). I’m sure your mother must have been thrilled to be a part of it. We had my parents time their trip so they could be here for Sara’s miyamairi too. Luckily she has 4 cousins on her father’s side who we could borrow white clothing and a kimono from, not that you could see any of it since it was the middle of winter and absolutely freezing.
That’s a nice story and I like the photos. We did omiyamaeri with our daughter and I didn’t really know what we were getting ourselves into. My mom was forced to do the holding and all that, but no one told her til we got to the shrine and she was dressed in jeans and a bright red sports sweatshirt. My MIL and husband had dressed up, but they assured us we didn’t need to dress up, so she was really embarrassed. Anyway, we were too lazy to do anything for Luka…I hope that doesn’t affect him in the future.
How neat!
All I can say is that second picture deserves to be in a huge frame on your wall! It’s gorgeous!
Have you changed your hair colour/style since Noah was born? The blonde streak looks awesome! I wish I could carry off funky hair like that!
What a wonderful experience to share with your mum – I’m sure she loved being there for it!! I love that Noah did his omiyamairi at the same shrine as Shun did his. What a lovely tradition!!
I have to agree with everyone else and say that I just love the photo of the 3 of you!! I would definitely be framing that one and putting it up on the wall
Lovely photos! They brought back lots of memories as we did Liam’s when mum was here too and we have lots of similar photos. You and Shun both look like parenthood (is that a word?) is agreeing with you and Noah is adorable as ever.