Another wonderful day in Japan and I have come to the realisation that I like Kyoto more then Tokyo.It seems to be a more spiritual city, with Shinto shrines everywhere you look.
We wandered down the street that our hotel is on this morning and as well as a small school there were at least five family shrines on the street (and no that is not the symbol you think it is= it a Sanskrit symbol meaning well-being that was corrupted and unfortunately is not looked at in the correct way)
Kyoto seems to be a pretty easy city to navigate, and apart from a minor direction problem, (think google maps had the hotel orientated differently so the left was supposed to be a right and once we worked that out we found our way to where we were supposed to be.) And as soon as we could buy a map we did.
First stop Nijo Castle, which has beautiful grounds to
wander around and gave us plenty of photo ops.The castle was a symbol of power for the Tokugawa Shogunate. The castle itself is beautiful and the nightingale floors (uguisubari) have a story of their own, they were designed to make chirping sounds as you walked across them, which warned the Shogun of intruders and I am sure the carpenters of today there would love to know all the intricacies involved in building it.
There are so many temples and shrines in Kyoto that I think I need another few days or should I say weeks to get around them all, but we're going to get through as many as we can in the next few days.
There is Shokokuji a Buddhist temple built in the 1300s,
and this is in the grounds of the Okazaki shrine which is one of the four oldest shrines in Kyoto.
On the grounds of Kinkaju-ji are many smaller temples and shrines including the Fudo Hall which is home to Fudo Myoo one of the Five Wisdom Kings and Protector
of Buddhism.
And then of course is the Golden Pavillion (Kinkaju-ji)
itself, Once the retirement villa of the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimimitsu it was turned into a temple after his death. It is pretty spectacular and even though rebuilt in 1955 (after it was burnt down by a fanatic monk) they have tried to keep it as close to the original as possible. And because it is so beautiful it required me to take a photo or two (or three or four :) )
Next stop was Nara and the beautiful grounds, filled with temples, beautiful gardens and a whole lot of really friendly deer, and lots of historical significance because it was home to Japans first permanent capital.
Not sure we even saw a quarter of all that Nara has to offer as the area is so big but here are a couple of highlights, the Todaji temple
(and the devil horns one top are not a reflection of Samara who is standing in front of it.
The Kasuga Taisha shrine is also spectacular and the
walk between the two is filled with amazing statues and lanterns.
Nara is also home to the Birushana Buddha (Big Buddha) and once again I find myself at total peace in the place. It isn't hard to be respectful in a place like this, it just seems that it is the natural thing to do. Even the gift shops/stalls
near the temples are
different from a lot I have seen in other places, there is no pushing anything on you, everything is handled so respectfully that even the shopallergic like me doesn't mind wandering around and looking and buying.
And of course there are the deer, there is a story to them, I think they are thought of as messengers of the Gods or reincarnations of some Samurais but can't remember the whole story. They are well looked after by the people of Nara and they certainly don't go hungry when they get fed by the tourists :)
Another packed day is over, and I won't be surprised if I'm asleep before my head even gets on the pillow. The next few days are going to be jam-packed too so a good nights sleep is in order (after another green tea treat :) )