Temple-san
So, after much coldness it was off for some religious enlightenment at a number of temples/shrines/cemetaries (well it would have been if we understood the difference between temples/shrines and had some background knowledge to budhism/shinto).
Nontheless it was fabulous looking at all the buildings, soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the gardens.
First off we went to Takayama – no important temples here, but we visited the Hida folk village which contained a number of old buildings salvaged from around the area, set around a lake with beatuiful autumn leaves.
We then headed to Kyoto. Kyoto has hundreds, if not thousands of (buddist) temples and (shinto) shrines – a number of which are world heritage sites. First off we went to Nijo-ji castle (not a temple or a shrine!) this has a wonderful ‘nightingale’ floor which squeaks whenever you put your foot down – designed to let the shogun know when anyone was approaching.
That evening we headed to Yasaka-jinja at night, which was all lit up with paper lanterns. We also headed to Kodai-ji temple and gardens that evening. The temple wasn’t anything special, but the gardens were very atmospheric – all lit up and reflecting into the ponds. The giant bamboo forest was very fab – I want some in my garden (when I grow up & settle down!)
The following day we went to, Sanjusangendo – 1001 gold statues with 42 hands – at first sight they all look the same, but when you look closely they are all subtly different – probably the most impressive one we visited in Kyoto – but no photos allowed.
We visited both the silver (ginkaku-ji) and the golden (kinkakuji-ji) pavillions. On first sight the golden pavillion takes your breath away – its very, err, golden!!
We walked around the back streets of Gion in search of a quick glimps of a geisha, but they must all have been at work! Although you certainly got the impression that there were some very posh restaurants etc behind closed doors.
We also really enjoyed Arishamaya – a suburb of Kyoto – much more relaxed than the city itself and we really enjoyed the Adashino Nembutsuji cemetary with 1000’s of mini jozi (buddah-type things…) and another giant bamboo forest.
After Kyoto (and feeling slightly templed-out), we went to Koya-san, which is famous for, its temples. Only this time we spent the night in one! The Daien-in. One of the main draws of staying in the temple is the food. Which is a monk/vegetarian version of a ‘normal’ japanese meal. Goodness knows what some of it was – we definately think wet, cold sponge was a speciatlity (the sponge was probably some form of tofu at a guess!)
We also joined in the early (6am) service before breakfast. No idea what it all meant, but it was very welcoming and the other guests showed us what to do at the right time. They took a shine to us and insisited on taking a couple of photos of us with them and then gave us some sweets – well we thought they were sweets…turned out to be sugared beans, which were guiltily abandoned on a shinkansen later in the day.
The service is much less participatory than a church service – no hymns etc – you just sit and listen to the monks chant – and maybe mutter along at times. Although I can see how you can get into a trance-like state when chanting.
The temple phase of the trip was enjoyable, but we both feel we need to buy a book and read into it some more.
Tags: Japan, Koya-San, Kyoto, Takayama, Travel
Jenni
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