Sichi Go San!!

Well, today was a very precious and exciting day for Stella chan (Japanese endearing term similar to: little one) and myself. We are both just wiped out from all of the commotion and excitement. Our day started with 2 very generous Japanese women willing to help the two of us get dressed in our kimonos and tie my obi. Obi is the middle band you see wrapped around the middle of the kimono. That is not just a belt, that is a 9 ft long belt that requires tons of hands and professional bow tying. They certainly tie it very tight. My back is definitely paying the price. We went to the city of Kamakura, known for having plenty of Shinto and Buddhist temples and shrines. We went to the largest and most popular Shinto shrine called Hachiman Jinja. When we arrived there were lots of little boys age 5 and girls age 3 and 7 dressed in formal kimonos for the blessing ceremony. We walked up a beautiful path and witnessed a traditional Japanese wedding on our way up to the shrine. Then we walked into the shrine and sat through a gorgeous Shinto blessing ceremony for all of our children. These blessings are for our childrens health and prosperity throughout life. We were the only Americans that I saw there, much less, Americans dressed traditionally for the Sichi-Go-San (7-5-3) celebration. So many people stopped us to take our picture. One woman even bought Stella some "Hello Kitty" cotton candy! It was a wonderful day. So enjoy the pictures and video!