BIO E® World

Hieizan Enryakuji Onioi-shiki In a lively Buddhist service, a monk wearing a goblin mask is chased off.

Osame Fudo ・ Osame Fuda Otakiage Charms and amulets received during the year are burned as prayers of thanks are offered.

Shimai Tenjin The temple fair is held the 25th of each month. This particular day being the last fair of the year, the market is bustling with people shopping not only for potted plants and sundries but also the many New Year's items on display.

Keta no U-Matsuri At this distinctive festival, the way that a single cormorant comes to a stop by the light of a flickering candle atop a platform is used to foretell whether the coming year will bring a good or bad harvest and fishing catch.

Akibasan Hibuse Matsuri An esoteric Buddhist ceremony. Monk ascetics, called Shugenja, perform rituals for the deity using drums, bells, and religious chants. In a ritual called Hiwatari, they also walk barefoot across burning embers.

In the spirit of the season, here's another reason to get out there & be extra happy. A study at the University of British Columbia in 2008 proved that people found happiness and satisfaction NOT from money they have earned and spent on themselves, but from money they spent on other people. This theory proves an old-time saying from the Bible: “It is better to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

State University of New York researchers questioned the old myth that a person yawns because of a need to increase oxygen levels. The researchers concluded that people yawn to allow air in to cool their brains . In their experiment, the researchers found that those who watched others yawn had the urge to yawn as well. However, those who held an ice pack to their forehead or those who breathed with their noses did not have the urge to yawn.

Kencho-sai In this festival, an offering of birds is made to the deity. The festival has its origins in offerings made by emperor Nintoku when he would return from hunting.

Bengt Arnetz, a Swedish researcher whose finding was published in BBCnews.com in 2008, discovered that radiation your brain receives from using the cell phone before bed can keep you up at night. People, in the study, whose brains were exposed to cell phone radiation not only slept less, but did not reach a state of deep sleep.