By TAKAYUKI KAKUNO/ Staff Writer
January 2, 2022 at 18:30 JST
Visitor numbers to Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in the greater Tokyo area on Jan. 1 were up compared with the same day of 2021, when Japan was in the grip of a steep surge in the COVID-19 pandemic, but nowhere close to levels of past years that saw millions of people out and about.
At Tokyo’s spectacular Sensoji temple in Taito Ward, visitors were guided to the main hall straight from the Kaminarimon gate via the traditional Nakamise shopping street. Pedestrians were prohibited from crossing the street to ensure worshipers to get to the main hall smoothly.
Last year, visits to the main hall were not allowed for the first three days of January for fear mass infections could result.
Meiji Shrine in Shibuya Ward also relaxed its visiting rule this year by allowing crowds to form in the leadup from midnight of Dec. 31 to Jan. 1. Last year, it cordoned off the area.
Even though crowd numbers are larger this year due to a general sense the public health crisis is easing, the shrine took steps to guide worshipers by making them stay back on a long stretch from the main hall to ensure they did not huddle en masse in front of the building when they got there.
Kawasaki Daishi temple in Kawasaki’s Kawasaki Ward took similar steps to control visitor numbers.
“Compared with the last year, we are seeing many more visitors,” said a temple representative. “But the figure is still far short of the level in 2020.”
As a precaution against the novel coronavirus, the temple placed numerous disinfectant dispensers so visitors could sanitize their hands.
Crowds also returned to Naritasan Shinshoji temple close to Narita Airport in Narita, Chiba Prefecture.
The temple provides disinfectants and other anti-virus items all over its compound to help protect visitors.
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Crowds at Sensoji temple in Tokyo’s Taito Ward around noon on Jan. 1 (Takayuki Kakuno)
