Like every year at the Tsutenkaku Tower from Osaka, today took place the annual end of the year “zodiac sign replacement” ceremony, where the animals representing the Chinese zodiac signs of the Old Year and the New Year (2013 will be the Year of the Snake) are brought together to symbolize the passing of responsibility.
Over the last years, I watched this tradition and I always enjoyed it: in 2010, the Ox and the Tiger and in 2011 the Tiger and the Rabbit were quite fun to watch, while the last year we witnessed little seahorses personifying the mighty Dragon.
Since the year to come will be the “Year of the Snake", a massive 3-meters python from the Tennōji Zoo was carried on shoulders to meet the cute seahorses. And if you’re wondering what’s with the statue on which the snake is coiled, that’s Billiken, the modern God enshrined right here, in the Tsutenkaku Tower:
