夜よ籠ごもり

noun

dead of night; all-night vigil

Literary or poetic term. Can refer to the deep, still hours of the night, or to the practice of staying awake all night in prayer at a shrine or temple. The religious sense is less common in modern everyday language.

• 夜よ籠ごもりの静しずけさの中なかで、月つき明あかりだけが庭にわを照てらしていた。

  In the stillness of the dead of night, only the moonlight illuminated the garden.

• 古ふるい寺でらでは、今いまでも年ねんに一いち度ど、夜よ籠ごもりの行ぎょう事じが行おこなわれている。

  At the old temple, an all-night vigil is still held once a year.