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kinkakuji (aka temple of the golden pavilion, aka awesome book by yukio mishima!)
famous waterfall at kinkakuji (i think it's supposed to represent some old legend about a carp swimming up a waterfall, but i can't remember the details)
the ryoanji temple, which i honestly believe is the most beautiful place in the world. if any of you get a chance to go to japan and haven't gone to the ryoanji temple, put it at the top of your list, even if it means going way far out of your way! obviously these pictures don't begin to do it justice... it's like a magical atmosphere there, i felt like i'd never really seen the world in quite the same way before, i dunno what it is but it is simply gorgeous.
the famous rock garden at ryoanji
and a shrine... i guess they really don't distinguish between their religions here....
ack i'm falling over!
this is heian jingu, where i went today. the heian emperor is enshrined here, and there are four absolutely gorgeous gardens that are supposedly arranged to represent different time periods of japanese history... only in japan, right? -_-; it was obviously not the right season to be there, everything was kind of dead, but it was also a good thing because there was hardly anyone else there. so i could just wander peacefully through the gardens myself, really taking it in...yay!
proof that the heian jingu gardens rock.
...and now for some
i am getting really frustrated with the fact that i can't buy normal clothes here. it seems whenever i try on skirts, i'm too wide for even the largest sizes, and it's really getting to me. in america i could always fit into the clothes in stores... usually i was even a medium! but here, in almost all stores, the largest size is too small for me. it's quite discouraging. i know japanese girls are usually quite thin, but surely there must be SOMEONE else in this country as big as me, right? roar at japan!