The Hokkaido Shrine is located in the Maruyama Park of Sapporo. We had to walk a distance to get to the shrine. It is so well situated; quiet, serene, away from the noise of traffic.
Little children dressed in traditional kimono or their Sunday best were there with their parents to pray for family and good health.
Visitors are encouraged to purify themselves with Holy Water before entering the Shrine.
There will be lots of people getting Omikuji (fortune written on a slip of paper). Who doesn't want to know about their future? Hopefully, the prediction is favourable and all is well. Pay a small fee and pick your fortune strip from a box. I didn't like mine at all and I was certainly not alone judging from the overcrowded racks. Since Lady Fortune was not smiling on me, I had to tie the fortune strip to the nearby rack. If your fortune is good, you can still tie the strip to the rack or just keep it in your wallet for the whole year.
Bronze statue of Yoshitake Shima, one of the founding fathers of Hokkaido and deeply involved in the establishment of this Shrine.
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