On December 31st every year there is a ceremony that takes place at a Shinto shrine called Keta Daisha in Hakui-city, Ishikawa prefecture here in Japan. The ceremony is for the purification of the miko (shrine maidens) that will be working there next year. If you're seeking the REAL Japan, then this maybe a trip for you to take. Here are a few pictures, videos and a map.Via http://DannyChoo.com (which is why you see his drawings and doll at the end)
video courtesy Garakutaya
I haven't been there myself, but I've heard that it's supposedly the largest ceremony of it's kind; I may go next year if I don't go back home for winter holiday.
From Wikipedia:
Keta taisha(気多大社 - Keta Big shrine) is the head shrine of Noto district. The deity of this shrine is known as the god of love, and many young women come to wish for good love and marriage.
Dedicated to Oanamuji no mikoto(大己貴命).
Festivals of the shrine: U-matsuri, Hirakuni-matsuri.
View Larger Map
Official Keta Shrine website: http://keta.jp
Posted via email by J7
This is an experiment of sorts to try to tie together my online identity and my offline personality. I've made plenty of business oriented sites, but I have never actually put together one for myself personally... With the advent of social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace along with blog sites like Blogger and Twitter, I find that I have cut a wide swath here in the internet, in terms of being actively online, but there isn't one place to really tie that information together. So this will be an attempt at doing so.