Hatsumode is the Japanese term for the first shrine or temple visit of the New Year.
People commonly make the visit during the first days of January to pray for health, safety, prosperity, and other hopes for the year ahead. Popular destinations can become extremely crowded, particularly at major Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Visitors may make offerings, draw fortunes, buy protective amulets, and return old amulets for ritual disposal.
Hatsumode is practiced at both Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, reflecting the long coexistence of religious traditions in Japan. It is therefore broader than a specifically Shinto ceremony. Many people also hear temple bells at New Year through joyanokane, the traditional ringing of bells 108 times on New Year's Eve.
The term is often confused with hanami, which means flower viewing, and with Obon, a summer observance honoring ancestral spirits. Hatsumode specifically identifies the year's first religious visit, not every New Year custom in Japan.