Kyoto Part Two!

From Saturday through Monday I was in Kyoto with fellow MSU grad and current ALT Heidi. We stayed at the Shunko-in Temple in northern Kyoto City. Believe it or not, I found out about the temple through a facebook advertisement hawking discounts to JETs and Arizona State University alum. The vice-abbot speaks English and gives tours of the temple and garden and leads a 30 minute meditation session, mercifully excluding the Stick of Compassion. Unlike the Portugeuse bell, hidden crosses in the garden lanterns, and some of the Christian imagery on the temple's screens, the Stick of Compassion did not come over with the Jesuits (I don't think they brought any Catholic school nuns with them).



Enjoying some tea and not causing trouble after meditation.


The accomodations were not at all shabby!

The temple is a part of a larger complex called Myoshinji.


Another part of Myoshinji is Sanmon (above), which has a really ornate upper room with a Kannon statue. Every last inch is painted in bright colors and bold outlines.



One of the many many buildings in the complex. It's large, but it feels small with everything behind walls.


The temple offered free bikes on loan. I took one to Ryoanji, which is unfortunately closed until February for construction of some sort. Still, it was a nice bike ride uphill and I went on a little walk in the woods.



Being in the former capital of Japan, of course we had to sample some of the local fare, which is how we found ourselves at a WONDERFUL Turkish restaurant in Teramachi. Good tea!





We also stopped by Kiyomizudera, which is featured in the Tale of Genji. There's a spring with healing/wish-giving waters and a sort of cave that's like Buddha's womb. You pay 100 yen to go down some steps and walk around in the dark for a minute or two (while holding the rail with your left hand! Don't let go!) until you reach an illuminated stone, where you place your hands and pray to Buddha. Then it's a little further until you reach the staircase and are reborn when you exit. It's worth it for the wow! effect of walking around in the dark and seeing only the stone lit up.

Kiyomizudera is also a stop on the Saigoku Kannon pilgrimage, so I brought my stamp book along. That's two down, thirty-one more to go!

We also checked out the International Manga Museum, which had a neat exhibit on French comics from the 1800s to the present and an exhibit on a project between European and Asian comic artists. The exhibits are in Japanese and English, so be sure to check it out if you have the chance.

Our last day it snowed on and off. It was lovely!





I'm sure I'll be back in the spring. I've seen Kyoto in summer, fall, and winter. It would only make sense!

Christmas and New Year's Eve and Day

I've been slacking on the writing and picture taking. Pardon!

Christmas was spent at the office, but the day afterward I took off to have a Christmas party at my house. There was snow on the ground for the first time when I woke up and it snowed quite a bit in the early afternoon. The Sasayama/Tamba crew came over to celebrate and celebrate we did with a lot of food and spirits.

New Year's Eve was spent in Sasayama watching movies, eating, drinking, and going to Kasuga Shrine to watch a ceremony after midnight, drink some sake, and get an arrow to hang in the house and ward off bad luck.

New Year's Day I rolled into Kaibara and spent the better part of the day with a JTE and his family. We had lunch and dinner, played some card games, watched some manzai comedy, and went to Hachiman Shrine to pray and get our fortunes. It snowed a ton starting around 5 or 6PM. I was sent home with a lot of goodies and was safe on the roads.

It's been a nice and relaxing break.

I was going to start Kansai Kannon Pilgrimage, but couldn't get off my lazy butt. Next weekend I'll be in Kyoto for a temple stay, so I might hit up some of the temples in Kyoto. I'm not really doing it for the sake of Doing It Right, but I thought it would be a neat way to see some architechture from different prefectures with at least one constant: Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy.

When I was in Europe I enjoyed going to churches dedicated to Mother Mary and seeing what they had in common (or not) and I'm hoping this will be a similarly enjoyable experience.

I've got some more ideas brewing about in my skull for future posts. More later!


Aogaki by ~jozzig on deviantART

Here's a little sketch of Aogaki.

Peace!

A Little Tidbit

Friday I did a bit of grocery shopping and was very elated to find a loaf of bread with eight slices.

You see, in Japan, all loaves are the same size and it's all white bread. Brand matters not. The difference is the thickness of the slices. They range from four to ten slices per loaf. I have only heard tell of the ten-slice loaves. This Friday was the first time I had seen eight-slice loaves. Usually I must settle for six slices.

I'll have to document more Adventures in Food in Japan sometime as well as Christmas in Japan.

Answers

Show me pictures of your car! and if my bike can fit in it.

It's a little Daihatsu Mira K-car. About 10 years old, I think? The back seats fold down. Perhaps if you take a wheel off I could fit it in there. I'd have to check it out with my bike.

My bike is a hand-me-down from my predecessor and probably her predecessor, too. It's a mama chari. It has two speeds: slow and stop. It doesn't like hills. I mostly use it for shopping.

public transportation.
chopsticks: do they have forks anywhere?
maybe what you know about the government?
is it weird to pay 10000 yen for like a banana?

Forks are plentiful. All I could tell you about the government is what I heard a few months ago. Basically, the last prime minister Yasuo Fukuda resigned and Taro "one culture, one civilization, one language, and one ethnic group" Aso took his place. The Liberal Democratic Party has been in power in Japan for nearly all of the post-war period. Both Fukuda and Aso are LDP members.

That banana had better be made of gold if it's going for 10,000 yen. In the summer bananas were about 300-400 yen for 4-5 bananas, I think...?

As for public transportation, there isn't too much and it's pretty expensive. Trains are pretty fairly priced, but buses charge you according to how far you travel. For example, it costs me about 1,800 yen to go from Osaka to Kaibara ( 2.5 hours of travel). It costs me 800 yen to go from Aogaki to Kaibara by bus (45 minutes). It's much better if you're in a more populated area. Taxis are killer: 4,500 yen from Kaibara to Aogaki (30 minutes).

Nara

I was in Nara City from Nov 21st to the 23rd. I hoped on the train right after work, got a bit lost trying to find the Kintetsu Line in Tsuruhashi, and made it to a fellow ALT's apartment by late evening.



Nara is a former capital city from the 700s and is known for Nara Park, which is crawling in deer, young families, and tourists. You can purchase a stack of shika sembei or deer crackers for 150 yen and be accosted by little deer. I've heard stories and seen pictures of deer bowing politely in order to receive a cracker, but these guys were pretty adamant. They're all pretty tame, if pushy, and you can pet them. In October there are a few antler cutting ceremonies, where many of the male deer are rounded up and have their antlers removed to keep the deer from going on bloody rampages.





This is the approach to Todai-ji. You can buy all the souvenirs you could ever want here. I picked up some delicious deer droppings (chocolate peanuts) for some neighbors and some deer-shaped cookies for everyone at my base school. I never ever ever buy omiyage when I visit other towns and figured I probably should this time.



This is Todai-ji, the largest wooden structure in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Inside you'll find a Buddha (the Daibutsu or Large Buddha) and some guardian statues. To Buddha's left there is a pillar with a hole in the bottom. If you crawl through it, then (according to various sources) you'll become enlightened/have a long life/have happiness/have a wish granted. The hole is the size of the Buddha's nostril. I was the only person above the age of nine waiting in line to crawl through (hint: go in diagonally with one arm in front).



Crummy picture. One just has to wonder, though: did I climb out of or into Buddha's head? What if I was already enlightened and this undid all my work? What then?



After Todai-ji we headed over to Nigatsu-do, which offered a great sight of the city and some tea. I also picked up what I've seen called a goshuin, a noukyouchou, or a shuinchou. Whatever you want to call it, it's a book of stamps and calligraphy signed by a priest at a temple. For me it's just a souvenir, but it acts as proof of your visit to a temple. I'll post some pictures later.

Then it was back to the apartment for some delicious lemon soup, cheese and crackers (boursin!), and fruity tea. Oh yeah, and SLEEP!

On Sunday we saw the Kofuku-ji complex.



While waiting in line to see some Buddhist statues in a stupa we chitchatted a little with some Japanese ladies who wanted to know if I got my little red pepper charm from Korea. The conversation was prefaced by a listing of languages that we might have possibly been speaking (French? English?).



Also part of Kohfukuji was this octogonal temple with a Kannon statue inside. More info here.



Afterwards we walked around the newer part of town. We got some fresh mochi. Mmm mmm! Too bad I was already bursting at the seams from all the food I had eaten throughout the day.

I'm looking forward to returning to Nara one day and seeing more of it.

Possible blog ideas

Hello everyone!

What are you interested in hearing about from me? Is there some detail I've completely failed to mention in this blog? Is there something about Japan that you're just dying to know about? Here, let me throw you some topics. Give me some feedback. This blog is just as much for you as it is for me.

- convenience stores and their convenience
- school systems
- transportation
- food and drink
- my house and its lack of insulation
- internationalism in Japan
- bowing, shoes, toilets, chopsticks, etc.
- daily schedule

Have at it!

Fauna of Aogaki

What I love most about Aogaki is the Kakogawa River. While much of it is dried up it's still a haven for all sorts of animals and plants. My favorite thing to do is bike along it. It never fails to offer up something new and exciting. I cross it everyday on the way to work and ocassionally I break the rules and ignore the school-prescribed route back home so I can see what's going on in the river bed.

Today on the way to Kogenji Temple I forgot to cross a bridge that would let me hug the banks of the river, but I was still rewarded with plenty of opportunities to catch some local fauna on camera.



I really need a guide to birds and trees in Japan. I wish I could tell you what these are.



Neither Wikipedia nor Google will tell me what kind of dove this is.



I think these are black kites, but can't be certain. Where there is one there is certainly another nearby. Same goes with the crows that are on the next telephone pole. The crows are really amazingly intelligent and affectionate. I've seen pairs feed each other. They really love the cherry tomatoes in the garden next door (birds in general are pretty attracted to red).



The same pair again. I chased them between phone poles for a while until I could get a good shot of them. Sorry for being so annoying!



This is not the best picture. I can only zoom so far and I only have so many pixels, but you see that blue/green smudge in the center there? It's some sort of kingfisher. I've seen one once before near the high school.



A heron! These guys are all over the place and are really skittish. I had to hide behind a traffic sign just to get a picture. Half the time I stop along the river to look at something I end up scaring one of these guys up without having previously known they were there.

There was also a beautiful pheasant that landed right in front of me, but I couldn't get it on camera. Oh well! Next time.



Enough of the birds. Here's a weasel of some sort by the river. This guy came really close and wasn't afraid of me at all; just curious. Half the time I see these they have some juicy prize in their jaws. I've seen a larger mustelid of some sort romping through my backyard (I was eating toast and staring out the kitchen window when he entered stage left). It was twice the size and had a darker, redder coat without a mask. A sable or marten? ::shrugs::



This little frog was hanging out in this faux bamboo rail for a few days. I guess he was down. It's not easy being green.