Kyoto Part III: Shrines and Monkeys and Geisha (oh my)

We’re only mentioning a few highlights here. Of the three thousand shrines in this city, we visited two-thirds of them. (Kidding. But it sure felt like it at times.)

Chion-in

Chion-in is a Pure Land Buddhist temple, which is the headquarters for the Jodo sect. Pure Land Buddhism revolves around a belief that if one calls on Amida Buddha, he/she will be reborn into the Pure Land (a good thing). You just gotta repeat “Namu Amida Butsu” over and over again. (I’m simplifying; Mark's work centers on this form of Buddhism. Just ask him about his dissertation sometime and you’ll get ALL the details.)

Purification before entering Kiyomizu-dera

Kiyomizu-dera, a Hosso Buddhist temple, is a famous landmark in Kyoto. There were about a hundred groups of middle school

The walk from Kiyomizu-dera

students at the temple, and we were interviewed by several of them so they could practice their English. (We tried to practice our Japanese, too.) They always asked if they could take our picture at the end of the interview, and we started insisting on taking their photos, too. There were lots of fun and funny things to do at the shrine. You’ll be happy to know both girls have ensured success in finding true love by walking with eyes closed between two stones set quite far apart. We told them to wait until they’re 30.

Bodhisattva Kannon (Bodhisattva of Compassion)

There’s also this really amazing walk under the temple that we highly recommend--it’s completely pitch black, and you’re descending down a ramp until you get to a stone with light emanating from it where you get to make a wish and rotate the stone.  The walk symbolizes traveling through the womb of a female bodhisattva and the light is birth. It would have been a lot calmer--and a lot scarier--had there not been forty thirteen year olds experiencing this at the same time we were.

Family fun at Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

As in most cases, the walk to/from the temple was lined with restaurants, street food stalls, gift shops and ice cream. (Note: You will not believe how many temples these kids will visit with the promise of ice cream during the day. Truly incredible.)

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

Arashiyama Monkey Park

Arashiyama Monkey Park

Tenryu-ji temple

World War II Shrine, is dedicated to Japanese who lost their lives during the Pacific War, especially those whose remains were never identified. There’s also a memorial for foreign soldiers who lost their lives on Japanese soil during the war. If you have a relative who died during that conflict, his/her name resides on an index card in a card catalog in the shrine. There’s also a small shrine where people ask for a healthy marriage, which we made use of. Not sure why it’s in a location with a war shrine, but that question didn't translate easily, so we didn't ask. 

Jizo at Nanzen-ji

Torii gate at Heian Shrine

Geisha sighting in Gion

Tenryu-ji, a temple associated with the Ranzai school of Buddhism, is a beautiful and much more subtle place to visit.

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove and Monkey Park included a hike up a mountain to get to the monkeys. The bamboo grove is truly majestic --it's the photo on the front of our Lonely Planet book that's been our "fifth wheel" on this trip. Fun to walk through it in person on our way up the mountain to see the...monkeys! The park boasts 160 monkeys, which will eat from your hand. There are lots of rules when it comes to these critters--the girls found a great sign that said they don't like: (1) to be touched roughly; (2) to be stared at in the eye or (3) to have rocks thrown at them. (We have a lot in common with these little guys.) They also don't like when you don't pay attention to them, as Maura and Mark found out after having a little monkey business thrown their way.

Heian Shrine has the biggest torii gate in Japan and is the grandest of shrines in Kyoto. 

Nijo-jo is a castle built in the early 1600’s, when shogun had overthrown the emperor and were ruling various parts of the country. This particular castle housed one of the shogun, and has “nightingale floors” that are designed to squeak every time a foot touches them--very useful in guarding against ninja!

Gates of Nijo-jo