Home Sweet Home

I returned home to see lots of these decorations on display outside homes. Called Shimekazarion, they hang above the entrance to the house to prevent bad spirits from entering and to invite the Toshigami or Shinto deity, to visit.

This traditional New Year decoration is made of shimenawa, a sacred Shinto straw rope, and other materials such as bitter oranges, ferns, and white ritual paper strips called shide. 

It's good to be home Blippers!

Write it on your heart, that every day is the best day in the year. 
Ralph Waldo Emerson