Oscar's Omiyamairi

We celebrated Oscar Yamato's Omiyamairi yesterday. Omiyamairi is sort of like a Shinto version of a Christening ceremony. It's usually performed when the child is one month old, so Oscar is a little bigger than usual for this. First we went to get photos taken with Wakaba and Oscar in kimono, but you'll have to wait until next week to see those. Then we went to Hikawa-Jinja where two Shinto priests performed the Omiyamairi rites. They said a prayer for Oscar's health and formally introduced him to the Shinto gods. They tell the gods where he is from and who his father is. It was strange to hear my name chanted by a Shinto priest. Somehow I never expected to hear that. We also offered Tamagushi - a sprig of leaves from a sacred tree - to the gods. Oscar was pretty good during the whole thing, though he squirmed around in his grandmother's arms a bit and one of his socks fell off during the ceremony (as usual). It was a really nice experience to have as a family.