The trip to the local shrine

When a newborn reaches the end of her first month, it's tradition in Japan to take her to the local shrine to pray for her good health. Luckily the thirtieth day from her birth overlapped with my family's visit, so we all got to take Elena to the shrine together.



All the ladies, washing their hands before entering the shrine. We took Elena to Komadome-jinja, a shrine very near where we live in west Tokyo.










It's also tradition to have the mother of the father carry the baby into the shrine, so we had my mom do this -- afterwards, everyone was busy buying lucky charms to bring good fortune.










The new family.













And the extended family -- Uncle Shun is taking the picture.












And so he doesn't feel left out, here's Uncle Shun with Elena back at home afterwards.