New Year at Onomichi

I'm debating whether to spend the New Year at Onomichi or Miyajima. Miyajima has the fire festival and will be bustling with crowd, for sure. However I could not find sufficient information about Onomichi. It's a small town so business might close, but it's also famous for the temples so probably will be crowded.

Any insight on what to expect during this event?

Also, is it safe to walk down from Senkoji temple by foot after sunset (might be dark)?

Thank you.

I don't know about New Year celebrations in Onomichi since I only go for the Minato Matsuri in April. This time around, I went to the Betcha Festival as well in November and some events were held way after dark. Illumination isn't all that great, but there are street lights. Footing, on the other hand, can be a bit troublesome around Senkoji when accessed from the ropeway. Please be careful. Onomichi is a great little town!

Thank you John for the advise!

If I may add to the question, does Japanese typically visit the temple late at the midnight of New Year or before sunrise? For example, if I came out at 5am to a viewing spot, will there be dead quiet or likely there will be other people? Especially in Onomichi which has plenty of temples along the way.

If the temple(s) allow visitors/worshippers to ring the bell that signals the end of the year, then there is likely a lot of people queuing up for that before midnight, when the New Year starts. I don�ft know the landscape of Onomichi area enough to say which spots would be popular among the locals, but on the New Year�fs Day, I would say there would be a lot of people visiting shrines and temples, throughout the day, as well as trying to see the first sunrise. And the visits to temples and shrines will continue for the first few days of the year.

Thanks for the insight. So can I expect that generally the crowd will start from the Eve until several days after New Year? Local businesses seems to close from 29 Dec and reopen from 1-2 Jan.

Also, is it customary to say Akemashite Omedetou (gozaimasu -- is it needed?) even after a week from the New Year?