The Japanese tradition of making the first shrine or temple visit of the New Year is called Hatsumode. The word combines hatsu, meaning “first,” with mode, meaning a visit to a shrine or temple.
Hatsumode usually takes place during the first several days of January, especially on January 1, 2, or 3. People visit Shinto shrines or Buddhist temples to pray for health, prosperity, safety, and good fortune in the year ahead. Major religious sites can attract enormous crowds and long queues.
Visitors may purchase omamori charms, draw an omikuji fortune, and return old protective talismans for ritual disposal. Hatsumode is not limited strictly to Shinto practice, despite the category label: the term also includes a first New Year visit to a Buddhist temple. Shogatsu means the New Year season more broadly, Omisoka is New Year’s Eve, and Hina Matsuri is the March doll festival.