Hajimete: Kyoto and Nara
Hajimete means "first time" in Japanese. The International Office here at Nagoya Gakuin took all of the international students on a two-day trip to see Kyoto and Nara. I was really looking forward to this trip, seeing as Kyoto and Nara are some of the more popular destinations in Japan. Mostly due to having many famous temples and being the former capitals of Japan back in the day. Despite some of the "older" students (when I mean "older", I mean they've been here longer than me) complaining about how they've already been there, done that and why they should be forced to go again. That dampened my mood a little, but once we actually got going most of that was forgotten.
We left about 9am on Thursday morning. The plan was to visit Kyoto on Thursday, visit Nara on Friday and return to home by 5pm on Friday. While the schedule itself left no room for actual exploring of the cities to the students, I still had a fun time. The only downer to Thursday was the rain. In Japan, there is a rainy season and it usually goes on for the entire month of June. So, it rained on and off for the whole of Thursday.
Our first stop was at the Golden Pavilion, the Rokuonji Temple. This place is well known for its well....Golden Pavilion. Called Kinkaku in Japanese, this building has three floors. The first floor is called is called Palace style and you can see a bit of the inside from the outside (no one is actually allowed inside the building). It's really elegant looking and very pretty. The second floor is called the Samurai style and the last floor is called Zen style. The man that owned this building back in Japan's medieval days, wanted the Golden Pavilion to be made into a Zen temple as well as the surrounding area. The Golden Pavilion has a rather large pond called Kyoko-chi aka The Mirror Pond. True to its name you can clearly see the pavilion's reflection in its waters.
We had a lot of fun here, despite the current weather and even managed to buy some souvenirs, much to Kumagai-san's attempts to keep us moving...kinda like little sheep. There was also a lot of tall trees here and several little spots that showed the temple's Zen Buddhism. Such as little waterfall near the middle, another pond that had a small island with a stone tower in the center and our favorite spot, a "wishing well". In all do honesty, it's not a well nor is it one of the wishing type. First there is a stone dish that has wide sides and a flat brim. Next there is a tall stone behind the stone dish, that serves as a way to try and bounce the coins into the bowl, it never works. Finally there are four small pillars around the stone dish and this usually keeps the coins from getting in. If someone does get a coin into the stone dish then you get to keep the rest of the coins from others that have tried and failed. Is this Zen-like behavior?!?
Despite how much we saw, we only stayed here for ....at least 30 minutes. If not less. The teachers and other Japanese students that accompanied us kept telling us to "Hurry Up!!" and "Don't get left behind!!". Tch!!! Really, the path is practically a circle...how can we possibly get lost in a circle?!
Our next stop was a temple called Ryoanji. This temple is most famous for its rock garden. Most of the students were quite happy that we didn't have to wander out in the rain like at the Golden Pavilion. We were actually in the temple that houses the rock garden and out of the rain. YEAH!!!!!!!!! We stayed here little over an hour this time. The temple was really small and there wasn't much to do aside from take pictures, talk to the various tourists that have also come to see the rock garden or just sit down and watch the rain drip off the ends of the temple roof. This place was very serene and peaceful. Despite the number of people there, most of them hardly raised their voices.
Our final stop of the day was the Kiyomizudera (Temple of the Clear Water). This temple was founded in 798 by a monk named Enchin who had the finiacial support of a general named Sakanoue no Tamuramaro. They created this temple that would house an image of the 11-Faced Kannon (a Goddess of Mercy). This temple soon became a place to offer prayers that would protect the Japanese Empire. Over the centuries, the temple would be repeatedly destroyed by fires, earthquakes and warfare. The last major disaster was back in 1629. Its reconstruction didn't begin until two years later and was finished in 1633. Many of the current buildings are dated from that time. This place contains 7 halls, a three-story pagoda, several smaller buildings and a spacious veranda that gives the tourist a beautiful view of Kyoto.
I was stunned when I first saw this place. It's on top of a hill that would put Caradiac Hill at IUP to shame. (There is a reason why it's called caradiac, it's pretty steep for a hill.) By the time we reached the top, my tiredness was completely forgotten when I stood at awe of this place. It was huge and many more descriptive words that I cannot even begin to type. It was here that most of the "herd" managed to escape the clutches of Kumagai-san and wonder off on our own for a couple of hours. I stuck by Fon, a student from Thailand and together we wandered around the temple and simply enjoyed it.
Here we had out fortunes "told". In Japan, you pay a fee, shake around a large, wooden box that contains small wooden sticks. When you've shaken it enough, there is one hole to which a stick will fall out. On the stick are certain words that the teller will then hand you a paper that corresponds to that same stick. Mine said I'm really lucky and that I should work very hard...I had more fun shaking the box than getting the fortune!!! The best part about this was that the rain FINALLY stopped and we could wander around without fear of getting soaked!!
After that, we went to a Yakiniku buffet restaurant and then finally to our hotel. Yakiniku is when you pick out your favorite kind of meat (The buffet had several kinds of meat to choose from and No, I didn't eat any meat.) Then at your table you can cook your meat on a little, gas-powered grille to just how you like it. We stayed longer than we originally intended and most of the students had plans to sneak out of the hotel and go explore the Kyoto night life. Me and three other people (Tanya, an American student, Naohito, a Japanese student and he looks like Hiro from Heroes, and a Chinese student named Yi) had planned to go and find a place for karaoke since I had never been to one before. This was stopped by the fact that when everyone got to the hotel and realized just how tired/lazy they were, the night life could wait till another time.
Our last stop was the Todai-ji Temple in Nara. This temple is greatly known for its extra, extra, EXTRA large Buddha statue. This is a statue of the Rushana Vairocana, the cosmic Buddha, that was to become the symbol that would unify all of Buddhist Japan. It did for a time until the Imperial court and capital moved on and while it was still the supreme authority of Buddhism in Japan, it's time was passed. To this day there are only a handful of original relicts from 1,000 years ago and even the statue itself has been rebuilt so many times, no one knows its original form. Only a single lotus petal remains from the original statue.
I had far more fun here than at Kyoto. They were several other statues aside from the giant Buddha statue. I also caught a lot of orbs of light in this temple and outside in my pictures. At first I thought, nothing of them until I got a huge orb of light when I first took a picture of the Buddha statue. Then I kept getting them all over the place, it was insane and a little creepy. You can think what you want, I think their ghosts or at least harmless spirits.
Oh yes and one more thing. Nara is famous for their tame deer and allowing them to roam free. At this temple, there were lots and LOTS of deer. Mind you, I've heard and almost got into accidents with deer, but seeing them here totally freaked me out. I didn't want to touch one, I didn't want to feed them (an equally dangerous activity) and I certainly didn't want to go near them!!!!! I basically hid behind Fon whenever a deer popped up. Although everyone else seemed to enjoy the fact that you could pet a deer and feed them. An American student named Riley wanted to feed them and it turned out the the deer started to gather in great hordes demanding the food in his hand. One actually bit him on the butt and others started to tug at his clothes. One male deer tried to hit him with its antlers. Yeah....a VERY dangerous activity. I'm glad I didn't do it!!!!
After that final adventure, it was time to leave. I was a little sad that we didn't get to see more of Nara and that we couldn't stay longer, but I really wanted to go home at that point. I was also getting sick of riding on the bus!!!!
I'll talk to you guys later(^_~)