Kyoto 京都

昨日は先生と京都へ行きました。京都はふるい首都。やっぱりたくさん神社と寺があります。京都へいったことがあります。でもたくさん所みたことがありませんでした。

さいしょに京都東寺へ行きました。この寺は日本の一番の高いパゴダですと。このパゴダは国宝。

Yesterday I went to Kyoto with one of my JTEs. Kyoto was the former capital city of Japan until it moved to Tokyo (Edo). Naturally there are a lot of shrines, temples, and palaces. I'd been to Kyoto before, but I didn't get to see any of these places. You can visit a temple every day in Kyoto and not see them all.

First we visited the Touji Temple, which has the largest pagoda in Japan. It's a National Treasure.



Main Hallの中ではYakushi　Trinity (click!)

Inside of the Main Hall is the Yakushi Trinity.


沢山　Fudo　があります。 There were a lot of Fudo statues. Praying to him will protect you (especially from car accidents).

---

次は三十三間堂です。この堂は立っているの観音千一体とすわているの観音一体が持っています。

The next place we went to was Sanjyuusangen-dou. Inside of the hall there are 1,001 Buddhas. In the center is a large sitting Buddha, Kannon (who can be either male or female), who is flanked by 500 standing Kannons on the right and 500 on the left.


とても長いです！

---

次は西本願寺です。
The next place we visited was Nishi Honganji Temple. It's a large hall somewhat comparable to a sanctuary, I guess. You enter, sit on the floor, contemplate, or listen to the monks. I'm not expert on Buddhism, so don't go quoting me here. I'm just sayin' what I saw.


本願寺は一番の大きいな木で作られているの寺です。
This is next to the largest wooden lecture hall (I think).

---

次は二条城でした。

Then we saw Nijou-jou, which was started under Ieyasu Tokugawa. By his time the capital had been moved to Edo (Tokyo), but there were still a lot of official residences and offices in Kyoto.

Nijou-jou is well-known for its nightingale floors (they squeak to alert guards of intruders). There are also some lovely painted and gold-plated walls. As my JTE said, "mottanai!" or "what a waste!"


In front of the gates.


Looking over the complex.

---

次は金閣寺はでした。
The next was Kinkaku-hi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Very nice and picturesque, but not much else. We visited in the evening around 5PM when the sun was low in the sky and shining off the gold walls.