Let’s go to Hatsumode*1.
*1 We Japanese call the first visit to the shrines or temples, “HATSUMOUDE”, we wish New Year’s health,happiness,and so on.
Three or four years ago, when my family went to Ise Jingu Shrine for the first time, I was unable to walk because of the weakened state of the medication, or off so to speak.
I borrowed a wheelchair at that time, and cobbles are definitely easier with an electric wheelchair. This article is an episode from that time.
If I leave early in the morning, the effects of the medication become questionable.
One day, my family decided to go to Ise Jingu Shrine for Hatsumode (New Year’s visit), and we left home at 5:00 in the morning in a private car.
I had taken my morning medications Menecit and Mirapex at 6:00 a.m. at the time, so I took them at 6:00 a.m. as usual, but perhaps because I had been active early in the morning, the effects of the medications were suspicious.
By the time I arrived at the parking lot farthest from Ise Jingu, I was walking with my upper body leaning forward and rushing forward, unable to stop without holding onto an electric pole or the like. Under such circumstances, when I reached the torii gate of the Inner Shrine of Ise Jingu, I was completely immobilized and managed to stand with the torii gate as support.
Seeing me, my family panicked and went to the security office by the torii to see if they could borrow a wheelchair.
Electric wheelchair is easy to use if you want to drive on gravel.
According to a family member who has spoken with the guard, there are two types of wheelchairs in the guardroom at the Inner Shrine of Ise Jingu: an electric wheelchair operated by an attendant and a regular manual wheelchair, and he was told, “You were lucky that the electric wheelchair happened to be back this time.
When a manual wheelchair passes over the gravel, the unevenness slows the wheelchair’s progress and is said to be quite tiring for both the wheelchair rider and the caregiver.
Ask the shrine in advance if they have wheelchairs.
Now, when you go to Hatsumode in the future, make sure that there is a wheelchair available in case of emergency.
