This is Meiji Shrine in Tokyo one of the biggest in Japan. <br /><br />These priests are about to conduct the "Oharai" or the "ritual of purification" ceremony. <br /><br />This annual ritual performed on the last day of the year is believed to purify body and mind before the New Year. <br /><br />Shinto priests shake the branches of an evergreen tree to "brush-off" evil spirits, bad luck and disease. <br /><br />[Yasuhito Ono, Ceremony Attendee]: <br />"I heard the brushing-off ritual gets rid of all the harmful energy from my body." <br /><br />[Huyuka Kikuchi, Ceremony Attendee]: <br />"I wish God brushes off all the evil spirits from me before New Year's day." <br /><br />More than three million people visited this shrine during last New Year's three-day holiday period.
