Kicking It in Kyoto (so to speak)- December 7, 2010

For this post, I will use my dear Japanese friend and guide's itinerary for the day as a template, filling it in with a few observations and pictures.

10:00 We arrived at  Nishihongan-ji  (temple), not far from our hotel at the train station- the Kyoto Granvia.  The temple is Shin Buddhist (teaching is Jodo Shinshu (The True Essence of Pure Land Buddhist Teaching)), founded by Shinran Shonin, and sits on the site of the founder's mausoleum.  We entered through the Amidado Gate and visited the Amidado (Daisho-in) Hall dedicated to the Amida Buddha,  and the Goeido Hall (Founder's Hall) dedicated to Shinran.  Behind the temple was a temple preschool where we saw lovely 3-5 year olds playing in the yard.

Amidadomon Gate to Nishihongan-ji 

 Nishihongan-ji  precincts Goeido Hall on right

Buddhist altar in Goeido Hall

 Nishihongan-ji  Preschool

11:00  We arrived at To-ji   (East Temple), a World Heritage site, also not far from the Kyoto Station.  To-ji boasts a pagoda which is the highest wooden tower in Japan. The temple was established in 796 and represents the Shingon school of Buddhism.  Like most places in Japan, what we saw at To-ji were reconstructions.  The pagoda we saw, for example, was rebuilt in the late 17th century.  Our friend updated her temple book with calligraphy which I was allowed to photograph.

Autumn colors at To-ji

Quince tree at To-ji

To-ji Pagoda up close

To-ji Pagoda 

Calligraphy in temple book

12:30  We had lunch at a Japanese restaurant “Hisago” in Higashiyama district.  The specialty is “oyakodon”, rice bowl with chicken and semi-cooked egg.

13:15  We passed through a nice alley called Ishibe-koji to the foot of Kodai-ji.. We got a photo from a distance  of a war memorial for Japanese soldiers in WW2,  Ryozen Kannon (Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara ) near Kodai-ji.
    

Ishibe-koji

Ryozen Kannon

13:25  We walked down a street called “Ninenzaka” which is toward Kiyomizu Temple.  On the way, I found a store dedicated to the fabulous Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro).  We also saw an ad to dress up as a geisha, hanging monkey soft sculptures on many of the shops and a five-storied pagoda called “Yasaka-no-to".

Totoro!

dress like a geisha (geiko, maiko) ad

Ninenzaka

Monkeys ©Paul Hoffman 2010

Yasaka-no-to

14:10   We arrived at Kennin-ji, the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto, and one of my favorite places in Japan. Highlights included the rock gardens and the dragon ceiling. I will let the pictures do the talking.

Hattou at Kennin-ji

Kennin-ji

Rock garden at Kennin-ji

Rock garden at Kennin-ji

Rock garden at Kennin-ji ©Paul Hoffman 2010

Rock garden at Kennin-ji

Grounds at Kennin-ji

Grounds at Kennin-ji

Chouontei Garden at Kennin-ji

Dragon ceiling at Kennin-ji

Rock garden at Kennin-ji

15:15   After leaving Kennin-ji, we walked on the street called “Hanami-koji”.  On the way, we saw Yasaka Shrine on the far corner of the Shijo Dori street, and Minami-za Kabuki Theater.

15:40   We took a rest at the Japanese tea house “Izutsu Yatsuhasi Honpo”

16:20    We passed over  Shijo Ohashi Bridge.  At that point, my husband  took a walk on the Teramachi street, while my friend and I looked  at Takashimaya department store.  The store reminded me of an upscale American department store with higher prices--nothing I could justify affording, not even a small t-shirt or toy.

17:00   We finished the day with dinner at the vegetarian restaurant “Miko-an” run by a former Buddhist nun, always peace activist  with a penchant for cats.

Minami-za Kabuki Theater ©Reiko Yabu 2010

Hanging with one of the many cats at Miko-an ©Reiko Yabu 2010

All photos not otherwise attributed are ©Maggie Heim 2010.

Crazy or A Gun Crazed Society?

Today's entry is a brief interlude in my series of blog entries about our Japan trip.  Yesterday Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 19 others were shot at a political event outside a Safeway in Tucson AZ.  I learned about the shooting from news alerts to my Blackberry while I was shopping for toilets in the morning.  I followed the story throughout the morning on my Blackberry while I continued to do my errands.

When I arrived home, I became obsessed with the story as did several of my Facebook friends.  In particular I looked at the alleged shooter's YouTube page and read any articles I could find, including one Naomi Klein found and called the best summary at that time about the motivations of the suspected killer. and information from Daily Kos I became obsessed with trying to figure out the motivation for the shooting.  Was it political?  Was the suspect schizophrenic (the conclusion I reached after watching his videos and reading what was on his Myspace page)?  Was he a pawn in a larger terrorist movement? (We now know that the second "person of interest" the police were seeking has been cleared so it is looking now like the 22 year old suspect acted alone.)

What fascinates me now is, notwithstanding all the political rhetoric about vitriolic speech as the cause or even domestic terrorism, how quickly we conclude that the alleged shooter was crazy.  In the shootings at Fort Hood in November 2009, the alleged shooter there  was initially described as mentally unstable with no political agenda. Then we found out that he was a follower of Anwar al-Awlaki. Mentally ill or terrorist?  I would wager most people still remember the descriptions of him as crazy, because that spin dominated the news at the time.

When I was in college, I remember studying the  My Lai massacre in a political science class.  In one test question we were asked to explain the actions of My Lai, particularly Lieutenant William Calley who was convicted of murder.  I recall viewing the situation through a psychological lens, explaining that Calley was indeed "crazy", a sociopath or worse.  My professor was clearly looking for a more sociological explanation including the pressures on young men in a war environment and the extrinsic pressures to inflate the numbers of dead to justify the war.  Calley himself said he was just following orders but  did repeatedly claim to have remorse for what he and the others did.

We live in a society that glorifies violence and provides a constitutional right to carry a gun.  Is it any surprise that "true patriotic Americans" like Sarah Palin revert to metaphors of violence when going after political opponents.  Putting Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others in the crosshairs of a gun (yes, a gun.  There is no way they intended those crosshairs to be "surveyors' symbols") reflects the violence of our society.  Calls for more temperance in such language in political debate  is a noble goal but perhaps a futile one until more people become aware  of  and want to change how much we revere the gun culture.    We need to think about this issue while looking for reasons for such senseless tragedies.

Journey to Nara

After leaving Tokyo on Monday, December 6, we headed to Kyoto for four nights.  I had planned to take one of the days we were there to go to Nara, the ancient capital of Japan.  It turned out that day was to be Wednesday, December 7.  Our JR Rail passes got us a free ride to Nara in about 45 minutes.

Tōkondo (East Golden Hall)

From the JR station, we grabbed a cab to Nara Park and started our journey into the past at the Buddhist temple, Kōfuku-ji, a World Heritage site. See also here. We first visited the Tōkondo (East Golden Hall) where I tried to take pictures of the interior that I was not supposed to take. They did not come out too well. (Interestingly, although the visitor was not permitted to take pictures of certain statues, pictures of those statues were available for sale in booths nearby.) Next to the East Golden Hall is the Gojū-no-tō, a five story pagoda which is the second highest in Japan.  The original Gojū-no-tō was built in 730 by Empress Komyoh; the current pagoda is a reconstruction completed in 1426.  We wandered down the path, past the ever present domesticated deer, to Nan'endo, the south octogonal hall, where I had the opportunity to see someone praying presumably as part of the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, on which Nan'endo is the 9th stop.

Gojū-no-tō

Nan'endo

Our personal pilgrimage required our stopping frequently at gardens so our next stop was Isuien Garden, before we tackled the crowds at the main event- Todai-ji, the home of Big Buddha (Big Buddha, Big Buddha).

Isuien Garden is really two gardens in one. The gardens surround a large pond and provide views for gorgeous water reflection shots on sunny days. The garden was relatively quiet--only a few other people were on the paths with us.  Between the gardens were a few ceremonial tea houses and in the back garden we found an old water mill structure.  I crossed the rocks to other side of the pond, allowing a wonderful view back of that rock path. (Fortunately, with some help, I made it across without falling).  We did not visit the adjoining museum preferring instead to head out to the Park again to find Todai-ji.

Isuien Pond from rear garden

Isuien Pond

Water Wheel

Rock path across pond in Isuien

Interior of Tea House in Isuien

We wandered down another deer laden lane to the entrance to Todai-ji where we found the crowds again.  So many school groups visit that there is a sign prohibiting group photos once within the temple grounds- presumably to keep the crowds moving.  Inside the Big Buddha (Daibutsu)  is indeed very impressive as are his friends (although unfortunately my photos of the friends did not come out so well. For better photos see here.)  Although the original Temple and Daibutsu statue were built in the 8th century, the current structure and main temple building, like so many other historical buildings we saw, are reconstructions in this case built in  the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

Deer with my dear on the way to Todai-ji 

Main Hall of Todai-ji

Model of original grounds of Todai-ji

Daibutsu (aka Big Buddha)

Binzuru Pindola Bharadvaja

Outside the main temple hall, there is a statue of  Binzuru Pindola Bharadvaja, a disciple of the Buddha.  Legend has it that if you rub the statue and then rub the part of your body that is diseased, your body will heal. I, of course, did that since I cannot rule out anything to cure my disease.

After our visit to Todai-ji we went in search of a particular lunch spot recommended in our guidebook.  It had  just closed but luckily I wandered into an empty store nearby where, in the restaurant area in the back,  we were able to get a bowl of Nara Udon and they called a cab for us to get back to the train station.  What a find!  (more on the food in another blog.  I promise!)

Tokyo Day 2- Conclusion

After leaving the Meiji Shrine, we walked down Omotesando-dori  (aka Jingumae), described in one of our tourbooks as the Champs- Elysees of Tokyo.  We visited the Oriental Bazaar but I was not much in the mood to shop after visiting the Meiji Shrine.  A few doors away,  Kiddy-Land, the famous toy store, was closed for relocation and "reconstruction".  Instead we visited a local artist's gallery and store and ate in a vegetarian restaurant of excellent quality (more on our food adventures to come in a later blog).

Nakagin Capsule Tower

We then headed off for the Tokyo Bay area where we first got an overview from the 46th floor of an office building.  Heading toward Hama Rikyu Garden, I took a picture of the Nakagin Capsule Tower, a historic, endangered  building by the famous architect, Kisho Kurakawa, shown here.  We then had a treat seeing some park performers juggling a teapot on a stick and a dish on an umbrella.

Our friend arranged for us to visit the Japanese teahouse in the Garden, where we enjoyed the tea ceremony of matcha and a sweet sitting on tatami mats.  Then off we went for a boat trip on the Sumida River, passing the Rainbow Bridge, Tsukiji market, numerous bridges, the Yomiuri Shimbun (a Japanese newspaper) building and the ever photographable Asahi building near our destination of Asakusa.

Hama Rikyu Garden

Rainbow Bridge

Tsukiji market

Chuo-ohashi Bridge

Yomiuri Building

Asahi Building

In Asakusa, we ran the tourist trap gauntlet  (the shopping street Nakamise) to see Senso-ji (aka Asakusa Kannon Temple), the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo.  In keeping with the Japanese commingling of Buddhism and Shintoism, there is also the Asakusa Shrine nearby.  It was already dark at this point so our pictures have an eerie quality to them.

Hozomon Gate at Senso-ji

Main Hall at Senso-ji

Bodisattva Avalokiteshvara  right and Bodisattva Seshi  left. 

Pagoda at Senso-ji

Torii to Asakusa Shrine

Hozomon Gate and Pagoda at Senzo-ji

Ginza- Chuo-ku

To finish off our day we headed by subway to Ginza for a vegetarian Indian dinner at Nataraj and a stroll on Chuo Ku in all its Christmas splendor.  We headed on the subway (the Hibaya line) back to Ebisu where we said goodbye for now to our friend, who we would meet again in Kyoto two days later.   We, of course, decided to celebrate our very full day with a Japanese cake from Starbucks.   We had no problem with jet lag that night!