New Year's Market (New Year's Kannon) and Hagoita Market

(I wonder if it's turning blue this year?)

Of the three large markets held each year in Edo, the one in December was the most prosperous and was called the New Year's market.

Date and time: Saturday, December 17th, Sunday, December 18th, Monday, December 19th, 2022, 10:00-19:30
Location: Sensoji Temple grounds

*Hagoita with Zodiac Signs - It is decorated with the silhouette of Shoki in the color red, which is believed to ward off evil.
They are sold for 500 yen at the Hagoita Preservation Society in front of the Hozomon Gate.
Comes with a zodiac hand towel and mask.First 2000 people

*Drawing shuttlecock: In front of the main hall: 1,000 yen, with shuttlecock
*Hand-shaped shuttlecock: In front of the main hall, 1,000 yen, with shuttlecock
* Commemorative photo with a geisha - Hagoita Preservation Society in front of the Five-story Pagoda - 17th and 18th (14:00-16:00)
Please bring your camera.
*Hagoita memorial service reception: Reception on the left side of the outer sanctuary of the main hall 10:00-19:00 (until 15:00 on the last day)
*Making mini Hagoita and mini Oshie - In front of the main hall - 2000 yen - Instructed by art university students or traditional craftsmen.

Until the mid-Edo period, New Year's markets were limited to Asakusa.Meanwhile, Sensoji Temple's festival day is the 18th of each month, and the 17th and 18th are the final festival days of the year, when people make a final pilgrimage to the Kannon Bodhisattva to give thanks for the safety of the past year and pray for a good year ahead, making them even more lively and an annual event in Edo.Samurai and large stores would have their retainers and servants carry baskets and pouches, and flock to Asakusa in large numbers, making their purchases at the same stores every year, and then stopping by a restaurant on the way home to show off their strength, as this was apparently a popular pose.After the Meiji period, people began to buy New Year's items at regular stores, and the image of the New Year's market gradually faded away. Today, the focus has shifted to the Hagoita Market, which became popular at the end of the Edo period, and it continues to thrive.