Kyoto ni tera arimasu

Tuesday 28 June 2016

If there is one thing that Kyoto is not short on, it is temples! According to the guidebooks, there are more than 2000 temples throughout Kyoto and, while it seems that every corner we turn and road we walk along we pass a temple or shrine, we will only see a few during our short stay in Kyoto. Today we checked out two of the most famous: Fushiminaritaisha and Kiyomizudera. Each of these were very different and incredibly beautiful, so loads of photos were taken - phone and camera batteries were well into the red zone by the end of the day.

We took a brief train ride on the local JR line to Inari to get to the Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine grounds. Based at the foot of Mt Inari, it is the head Shinto Shrine of the 30,000 Inari-sha shrines throughout Japan. The place honours the god of harvest, Inari Okami, the guardian of abundant crops, business, prosperity and family safety. 

The most prominent feature of these Shrine grounds is the Toriis (shrine gates). There are over 10,000 along the winding path up Mt Inari, that have been offered by worshippers as a testament to their prayers and gratitude. The Toriis and Shrines are a vivid vermillion colour, as this symbolises the life force and expresses the power of Inari Okami. Fox symbols are also important, as the spirit fox is believed to be the servant of Inari Okami.

We set off on the 4km hike up Mt Inari along the Torii pathway - it was a tranquil walk through the forest and the scent of camphorwood was very pleasant was we strolled along. However, as everywhere we looked there was something amazingly beautiful and interesting to photograph, our hike was very slow going so we never did make it to the top of the mount, but we were not disappointed by all that we did manage to see.

Our morning visit to Fushiminaritaisha extended well into the afternoon, so coming down from the lower reaches of Mt Inari, we picked up some Japanese street food - meat cover rice cakes, chicken sticks dipped in sweet soy sauce and frozen mango, from some of the stalls on the streets just outside the Shrine grounds on our way back to Inari Station, as we were all getting pretty hungry. 

On our way out of Fushiminaritaisha, we were also approached by some Japanese junior high school girls from Tokyo who were on excursion to Kyoto and seemed to have an assignment to talk in English to some foreign tourists. I think they struggled with our Australian accents, but seemed to understand some of what we said and were delighted to get little koalas toys from us and some group photos. We also taught them to say "no worries mate" - not sure how that will go down in their next English class....

Back at Kyoto Station, we grabbed some cans of coffee and bread for a quick afternoon tea. The bread in Japan is very soft, usually sweet and often filled with fruit, chocolate or custard - so this went down well, as we where still a bit hungry from all the walking at Mt Inari. Then we set off, on foot, through the Kyoto backstreets to find the Kiyomizudera Temple.

Kiyomizudera is a Buddist temple on hill to the east of Kyoto. It is a buzz of activity not the quiet refuge usually associated with Buddhism. The main hall has a massive verandah, jutting out over the hill side supported by an impressive pillar structure. 

Below the main hall was a waterfall where believers drink sacred water for health and longevity. 

There are lots of other halls and shrines dotted around the beautiful gardens of Kiyomizudera. 

At Jishu-jinja shrine the kids tried out the love stones walk - for success in love you close your eyes and walk between a pair of stones - if you miss the stone your desire for love will not be forefilled! I'm pleased to report that all three kids hit the stone, so we have high hopes for their future romance!