A crowd of people gathered Monday to participate in a year-end Shinto ritual in Osaka, western Japan, to laugh off all the bad memories of the past year.
The annual event took place at Hiraoka Shrine in Higashiosaka City. The ritual is based on a Japanese myth that the gods' loud laughter opened a rock cave in which the sun goddess had locked herself.
After the chief priest gave a signal, participants laughed loudly for 20 minutes.
Some people laughed while looking at each other's faces. Others took smartphone photos of their laughing faces.
A 17-year-old woman who came from neighboring Kyoto Prefecture with her mother said she thought laughing for 20 minutes would be tough, but it became fun later on.
She added the bad memories were blown away with everyone's laughter.
A man in his 40s who visited with his family from the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima said it was his first time to participate in the event.
He said he let out a big laugh toward the end, and added he hopes to come back again next year.
The annual event took place at Hiraoka Shrine in Higashiosaka City. The ritual is based on a Japanese myth that the gods' loud laughter opened a rock cave in which the sun goddess had locked herself.
After the chief priest gave a signal, participants laughed loudly for 20 minutes.
Some people laughed while looking at each other's faces. Others took smartphone photos of their laughing faces.
A 17-year-old woman who came from neighboring Kyoto Prefecture with her mother said she thought laughing for 20 minutes would be tough, but it became fun later on.
She added the bad memories were blown away with everyone's laughter.
A man in his 40s who visited with his family from the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima said it was his first time to participate in the event.
He said he let out a big laugh toward the end, and added he hopes to come back again next year.
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Summary
Year-end Shinto ritual held at Hiraoka Shrine, Osaka, Japan. Participants laughed for 20 minutes to laugh off past year's bad memories, based on a Japanese myth about the gods' laughter freeing the sun goddess. A 17-year-old woman found it challenging initially but later enjoyed it, while a man
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ID: 3166bd8a-8900-491e-bdb0-6e40dd3bd329
Category ID: nhk
URL: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20241223_10/
Date: Dec. 23, 2024
Created: 2024/12/24 07:00
Updated: 2025/12/08 07:39
Last Read: 2024/12/24 07:47