We awoke on the earlier side to catch the train to Nara. We had been very lucky with the weather so far but today it clouded over and started raining. We arrived in Nara and, as we exited the train station, we were approached by a Yosoko Visit Japan tour guide. She made a pitch to us saying she could offer us a guided tour of Nara for ¥20,000 per person. We asked her what time it would be at and how many people would be in the tour. She admitted to us that today has been slow for her, that she usually she is already guiding a tour by this time but she had no takers so she was considering going home after asking us - it would only be us and we could leave right now. We thought it was a great opportunity to have our own personal tour guide so we hired her! How lucky we were! She has a masters in Japanese History and lived in England for 12 years so her knowledge and English were fantastic. She was able to tell us so much more about the historic sites we were reading from the interpretive signs.
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| Nara with our tour guide |
Our first stop was Sarusawa-no-ike Pond, a large pond in front of Kofuku-ji temple. It is said that an imperial maiden was so upset when she fell out of the emperor's favor that she drowned herself in the pond. The pond was enshrined to please her spirit. The shrine is dedicated to all imperial maidens which, today, is more like a Miss Japan beauty contest rather than actual Shrine maidens. A festival is held each spring in which the winner of the pageant is floated around the pond in a boat lit up with torches. The pond was full of turtles. We headed to Kofuku-ji temple to admire the 5 story pagoda, the second largest pagoda in Japan by 5 cm. The temple was established in 669 A.D. by the wife of Fujiwara no Kamatari, wishing for her husband's recovery from illness. In 710, it was moved to it's current location in the newly constructed capitol.
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| Sarusawa-no-ike Pond & Kofuku-ji temple |
We made our way past the Nara National Museum to Todai-ji Temple. The first gate we came to was the Nandaimon gate. Inside each side of the gate was a dancing figure of the Nio. The two 28 ft tall guardians where built at the same time by Unkei, Kaikei, and their workshop crew. The Nio in the west pillar is Agyo, with his mouth open. The Nio in the east pillar is Ungyo, with his mouth closed. The position of their mouths has significance because Agyo is saying "A", the beginning of the word "AOM" and Ungyo is saying "M", the end of the word "AOM". AOM is the buddhist word for all the universe so the Nio are protecting the beginning of the universe, the end of the universe, and everything in between. The were amazing and beautiful wooden statues.
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| Ungyo saying "M" |
While admiring these statues, we were approached by Sika deer demanding biscuits. Sika deer, small Japanese red deer, are considered messengers by the Shinto religion. The deer are National Treasures and therefore cannot be harmed in any way. In addition, the whole area is lined with shops selling deer biscuits to visitors to feed to the deer. The deer are extremely smart, they can see when someone pulls out their wallet to purchase some biscuits. They even stick their noses into coat pocket where bought biscuits are kept. And they're smart enough to know that putting both your hands up and open means you do not have biscuits and they move on. And they seem to like Shane an awful lot.
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| Sika deer going after Shane's biscuits |
We moved passed the inner gate to behold the great buddha hall, the largest wooden structure in the world housing the world's largest bronze buddha statue. Our wonderful guide showed us a picture of the Fire Festival in August when the window above the entrance is opened and the buddha's face can be seen all lit up inside the temple. The only other time of the year they open the window is for New Years. We walked down the main pathway, which is lined with three different colored marble. Our excellent guide informed us that the different colored marble represent the journey of buddhism to Japan, the out most edges of the walkway are white marble from India, the origin of buddhism. Inside the white marble is a row of marble from China, inside of that row is pink marble from Korea, and in the middle is a row of black marble from Japan.
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| Great Buddha Hall |
Before the entrance to the Great Buddha Hall was a large lantern beautifully decorated with musicial deities. The musical deities are thought to bring good musical fortune to bands. Because of that, a number of large name bands have played concerts in the open courtyard before the great buddha hall. The lantern is only lit during the same two times during the year as the Buddha's window. We moved inside the Great Buddha Hall. The Great Buddha was a sight to see! The bronze statue is nearly 50 ft tall. We walked around the Great Buddha and admired all the other deity statues around him. Behind the Buddha on the west end of the hall was Komokuten, Buddha's guardian of the west. He holds a brush and a scroll, representing being all wise and translating sutras. His name means "all wise" or "all seeing" because he sees all evil being done and records those who partake in the evil. In the east end of the hall was Tamonten, Buddha's guardian of the north. Tamonten means the renowned one. He is the most powerful, the wealthiest, and the most favored of the Shitenno (guards of the four directions). He holds a treasure house in his left hand, signifying the wealth he gives to those who are worthy. In his right hand is a spear because he is known as the Black Warrior, protector of the righteous. (Zochten and Jikokuten, Buddha's guardians of the South and East, respectively, had been destroyed).
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| Tamoten, guardian of the north |
Also behind the great Buddha statue, one of the hall pillars had a hole in it said to be the side of the Buddha statue's nostril. It is said that those who fit through it are ensured a place in heaven. We watched the visiting children wiggle through it! The entire temple was amazing to behold. Making the structure, from 743 to 752 A.D., nearly bankrupted the country since the bronze used for the statue consumed nearly all available bronze in the country. Outside the Great Buddha Hall, we visited the sole bodhisattva outside, Binzuru. Our excellent tour guid told us he is placed outside of the Buddha hall because he is known to enjoy alcohol too much. But, he is better known for his mastery of occult powers and it is believed if a person rubs the part of Bizuru they are experiencing physical problems then rub the same part on themselves, the ailment will disappear. The wooden statue was well worn from people seeking cures for hundreds of years.
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| The bronze buddha |
Next we wandered from the Great Buddha Hall to another part of Todai-ji, the Nigatsu-do sub-complex. The Nigatsu-do Hall, located east from the Great Buddha hall, is the location of Shuni-e, AKA the second month service, a repentance service that has taken place March 1-15 every year since 760! The climax of the Shumi-e service is Omizutori, or water drawing festival, and occurs on the 12th of March. Every night of the Shumi-e service, 10 believers shoulder large pine torches as long as 26 ft long and weighing as much as 176 lbs, climb a flight of stairs, and run along the balcony of Nigatsu-do, showering sparks on the public below. It is thought that these sacred sparks will protect the recipient from evil. The monks also chant, perform ritual circumambulation, and waver their swords to ward off evil spirits. After the final night of the fire ceremony, Omizutori occurs when monks gather water from Wakasa well, said to spring water forth only on the 12th of March each year. The water is drawn by torch light at 2 AM and is first offered to Nigatsu-do's devotee Bodhisattva Kannon, then offered to the public. Drinking the sacred water is said to cure ailments. The water is gathered into two pots, one containing water from the previous year, one containing water from all previous observances of the ceremony. The grounds of this sub-complex was beautiful, many of the pathways lined with stone and stone lanterns. Very amazing.
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| Nigatsu-do Hall |
Next we meandered down to Kasuga Taisha Shrine, my absolute favorite Shinto Shrine. It was established in 768 A.D. by the Fujiwara family. We approached the shrine via a pathway through Kasugayama Primeval Forest. Logging and hunting has been prohibited in this forest over an area of 2 hills since 841 A.D. The whole complex was amazing. The thick pimeval forest enveloped the extensive shrine. The shrine itself is most well known for it's thousands of lanterns, which I love! The shrine buildings where lined with bronze lanterns and the pathways of the grounds where lined with thousands of stone lanterns. Truely amazing. All the lanterns are lit up twice a year, during New Years and during the Fire Festival in August. I just fell in love with the place. With all this beauty around us, we were apparently a hot commodity as well; one group of Japanese girls wanted their picture taken with us blonde American family.
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| Kasuga Taisha shrine |
Before leaving the temple grounds, our fantastic tour guide took us to one of the original shops of the area, an ink and brush shop for Sumi-e. The shopkeeper brought out some supplies for us to try. Shane wrote my name in the common language and when the shop keeper found out it was my name, he brought out a fresh piece of paper and wrote my name in more formal kanji. He wrote the kanji for Respect, which is pronounced "Kay", then he wrote the kanji for Forest, which is pronounced "Lyn". So my name in formal Japanese means "Respect Forest"! So insanely cool! What a treat! Our fabulous guide also showed us how to pray at a shinto shrine. The proper way to pray at a shinto shrine is to throw your monetary offering in the box, any amount will do but the most common is the lucky ¥50 coin. You ring the bell once, bow twice, clap your hands twice in prayer while thinking about your wish, then bow once.
We eventually left the Shrine grounds and made our way through Nara park back towards downtown. Shane was able to impress our tour guide with all the Japanese history he knew. She kept saying how smart Shane was and how little Japanese children know of their own history. She was thoroughly impressed. Back downtown, we said goodbyt to our wonderful tour guide and us blondies made our way to a sakery in town. We eventually found Harushika Sake. We were hoping for a least a tasting if not a tour of the place. Unfortunately they did not seem to like foreigners and didn't even want to help us. We picked out a few bottles, paid, and went on our merry way. We decided it would be fun to stop in Uji on the way back north to Kyoto and see Byodo-in. We stopped at a 7-eleven to grab a quick bite to eat but unforunately had to wait for the local train.
We got to Uji with 45 mins left to see the grounds. By the time we got to the grounds, there were only 30 mins to look around and the museum, which looked really interesting, was already closed. But we enjoyed the grounds. A woman was taking professional photos of Byodo-in and her dressed up miniature poodle. The poodle was adorable! Then a huge group of school children left the museum and came to the area to get their class photo. They, too, thought the poodle was adorable and descended upon the little animal. He didn't seem to care though! The Byodo-in buddhist temple was built in 998 by the powerful Fujiwara clan. The main building is the famous Phenoix Hall, name after the Chinese phenoixes adorning the roof. Hoo-do, or Pheonix Hall, is displayed on the back of the ¥10 coin.
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| Byodo-in |
After admiring the Japanese National Treasure, we walked down the entrance road, which is lined with shops selling tea! Uji is a major tea producing area so we bought a number of packages of tea that was grown nearby, picked, and made right in the shop! Shane also got another green tea ice cream with matcha sprinkled on top. It was the best green tea ice cream we had tasted yet! We took a moment to stop and admire the Uji bridge across the Uji River. The original bridge was completed in 646. It was the site for many battle collisions throughout the centuries. We caught a train back to Downtown Kyoto. The scenery on the trip back home was amazing! The rain clouds broke up a bit and the sun came in low through the clouds and western mountains. I wish I had gotten up from my seat to get a photos, absolutely beautiful. I did get a picture of the rainbow over Kyoto station though!
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| Uji tea shops |
We made it back home at a descent hour so we let Shane have the house to himself and went with Kim and Jessica to Donguri, a Okonomiyaki restaurant. Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savory pancake made with a batter of flour, grated yam, egg, shredded cabbage, green onion, and a variety of other foods mixed in before being grilled pancake-style. I had the house okonomiyaki which included cuddle fish, octopus, shrimp, and some other fixings. At Donguri, they grill it up at the bar and place it on a hot flat iron in your table in front of you. There are a variety of sauces to put on the okonomiyaki including a savory sweet BBQ sauce and, my favorite, Japanese mayonnaise (a bit thinner and lighter than American mayo). It was delicious! A great way to end an even greater day!
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| Okonomiyaki |
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