JAPAN: Tourist Day 3

It’s been hot in Japan the previous couple of days. Maybe only in the 80’s in the shade but it feels like the high 90’s in the sun.  We have a report of snow in Frisco, Co (schools were closed on Thursday) with 14 more inches forecast for today.  We’ll be back there in a week.

This morning we went on a bicycle tour of the city.  The bikes left a lot to be desired – heavy, slow, difficult to start and to steer. But there were 4 enthusiastic participants from Australia (Melbourne and Brisbane), a couple from Canada and us.  We again visited both Soto and Buda temples. We had a fairly good guide yesterday but the one today was REALLY GOOD.  His English was always clear and I’m pretty sure he has a vocabulary larger than mine.

This is the Heian-jingu Shrine is similar to the one we visited yesterday.  It was built 1200 years ago but this was rebuilt in 1888 on a slightly smaller site and is 5/8s the size of the original.  In 1888 there was an Exposition in Kyoto and may buildings and canals were built for this celebration.

Below is a replica of a Buddhist temple built around 1230.  This is a soto sect of Buddhism, which is more meditative. The guide said that people’s lives are celebrated in the Shrines (birth, 3 , 5 and 7 years of age) and afterlife is celebrated at the Buddhist Temples (death, 5 years and 7 years after death).  The Japanese culture is full of ceremony and superstition and symbols and have meanings that are usually not obvious to us.  Also popular today is for a bride to choose to have a western  (think Christian) wedding ceremony instead of a traditional one.  The funny thing is that the officiate at the western ceremony does not require any special certification and is given lines to be repeated by the couple but few in Japan are Christian.

This is our last night in Kyoto. Tomorrow we take the bullet train to Hiroshima.