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今日は私達家族のお正月休みで、長野市へ出かけて、善光寺で初詣してきました。亀清でのお正月のお客様の中で、善光寺へ行かれた方が多かった。偉い混んでいたと皆が言っていました。それはそうだね。この辺で初詣しょうと思えば、自然に善光寺に行きたくなる。
私達が行ったのはお正月の終わりの方、尚且つ夕方でしたからそんなに混んでいなかった。そのお陰、色々とゆっくり見れました。善光寺の魅力は改めて感じました。

注：善光寺はいつ行っても感動しますが、お正月が終わって次の注目の時が灯明祭りです。善光寺のライトアップが見事に綺麗です。今年の予定は２月６日から１４日までです。

Today for our family's New Years holiday, we took the day off and went to Zenkoji Temple in Nagano City. Several of our guests here at Kamesei had gone to Zenkoji this New Years and had talked about how crowded it was. Well, of course! When we Nagano-ites want to go for "hatsumode" (making New Years offerings at a temple), Zenkoji is THE place to go. We are naturally drawn there.
When we went, it was towards the end of the New Years holiday period, as well as the end of the day, so the temple was relatively quiet. Thanks to that, we were able to walk around and take in the massive temple and its surrounds at a leisurely pace. We were once again impressed with its enormity.
A lot of foreign travellers to Japan get "templed-out" while sightseeing, and I often reccommend seeing some of Nagano's natural highlights (e.g. snow monkeys, spiritual Togakushi, etc.) instead, but if you have the time to visit Zenkoji and take in some of its powerful details, it is well worth the trip.

Zenkoji is popular throughout the year, but after the New Years rush, the next big time is the Toumyou Festival where Zenkoji gets lit up in the Olympic colors. This year's dates are from 6-Feb to 14-Feb.

善光寺は戸倉上山田温泉から来るまで約一時間、電車なら長野駅から戸倉駅まで約２５分。
Zenkoji is 1 hour by car from Togura Kamiyamada Onsen, or 25 minutes by train from Nagano Station to Togura Station.
善光寺灯明祭りのＨＰはこちら。Click here for the Zenkoji Toumyou Festival website.