We took our annual trip to the Ebisuten (the God of Wealth) shrine to pray for good money fortune today. It was a much different affair than our trip in 2006 when we went during the festival and the shrine was packed (we were in the middle of our move back here when that took place) and it gave a completely different perspective on the shrine.

We have always gone during the festival in previous years and it is wall to wall people with booths lining all the pathways selling stuff so there is no way to really see the shrine. Today there were only a handful of people and we had the time to wander around the shrine’s grounds.

My wife washing her hands before entering the shrine

While I sent out a bunch of good luck coins last year hoping they would make their way around the blogosphere, only a single coin returned to me. I did offer that one as well as 10 others for good luck this coming year.

My wife praying for good fortune

We then had to pick from the many good fortune charms being sold.

Stall selling Good Fortune charm

And we decided on this one for our house:

Ebisuten Good Fortune charm

I also purchased two good luck charms (omamori) from the shrine: one for me and one for Nate for our business.

Omamori Good Fortune charms

I did put in a good word for all of those that read this blog and frequent the website. Here’s hoping that everyone has a prosperous year and their personal finance goals are met.