Japan & Korea – May 21, 2016

Our first sightseeing today was at the Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine and surrounding deer park.  I learned that a temple is Buddhist while a Shrine is Shinto.  The Fushimi Inari Shrine is the head shrine of the 30,000 Inari-sha shrines nationwide.  It has been a place of worship for the guardian god of abundant crops, businesses, prosperity, and public safety since 711, the 4^th year of Hatsu-uma.  The torii (shrine) gates have been offered over the years by worshippers; the back of each gate has the name(s) written of the contributors who paid for that gate to be constructed.  Vermilion color expresses the power of Inari Okami (god of harvest) so the shrine buildings and torii are painted red.

There are approximately 10,000 toriis that stand on the grounds.  I passed through perhaps a quarter of them.  A map of the shrine area makes fairly clear that there are a lot of torii, leading up and down the mountain.

One enters through a torii and immediately sees the gate house, through which the main shrine is visible.  At the shrine worshippers say a prayer and ring a bell of which there are many.  Before this is done coins are tossed into a trough in front of the shrine.

Shintoism is tied closely to nature.  The symbol of this shrine is a fox; there are many fox symbols around, including statues and “prayer cards.”

There was a double row of very small torii, one way each way.  This photo is taken looking back so one can see the information on sponsors written on the backside of the gate.

The torii wound their way through varying terrain up Mt. Inari to a shrine at the top and then down by a separate route.  Steps as well as slopes were involved.

 

Along the way there was a river with large carp happily swimming along.

At the top of the steps was an area with multiple small shrines and miniature torii.  One of these shrines had an interesting rock/worship display.

At this point I turned back and found a shortcut which avoided torii and the many people heading up the mountain.

We made a stop at the Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum which displays sake-brewing equipment and materials relating to the history of sake production.  There was a model of a sake boat which carried the sake barrels.

In addition to the museum displays there was a tasting room with three types of sake available, and each tour member was given a small souvenir container of sake to take away.

We then drove about 50 miles to Nara, which had served as capital of the country from 710 to 784, and had another bento box lunch; I’m getting good at trading shrimp for veggies.  Outside the restaurant were some poles with burned fronds serving as decoration.  We were told they had been used in a fire ceremony at the Todaiji Temple.

Todaiji Temple, located within the Nara Deer Park, was built during the period Nara was capital at the behest of Emperor Shomu. 

The chief object of worship of the temple is Vairocana Buddha, the central Buddha in the Kegon Sutra, which required a magnificent temple to be built.  The Great Buddha Hall has been burned and reconstructed several times, the last during the Edo period.  While Todaiji Temple is the largest wooden building in Japan, it is 33% smaller than the original building.  All the buildings associated with the Temple are of natural, unpainted, wood beginning with the gatehouse and including the building housing the Great Buddha.

The Buddha statue is over 50 feet tall, the largest bronze statue of Buddha, whose extended right hand welcomes those in the world who suffer.  The statue has also been damaged and repaired over the years.

A second statue, Nyoirin Kannon Bosatsu, was made of wood during the 18^th century.  This bodhisattva is believed to answer the prayers of mankind and balances on his finger the Wheel of the Law.

One of the huge wooden pillars has a hole cut through it; visitors attempt to squeeze through which involves twisting one’s body while in the middle.  I was not tempted to try but many of the members of school groups visiting felt compelled to do so.

After visiting the temple there was time for some green tea ice cream before returning to the bus through the park with its 1200 wild sika deer.  Considered to be messengers of the gods, Nara's deer have become a symbol of the city and have even been designated as a natural treasure.  One can purchase food to feed them, but that makes them even more pushy as one of our tour members discovered.

                    

 

A one hour bus ride took us to Osaka where we were dropped off for 2 hours worth of shopping.  It was hot, and I wasn’t interested in shopping so, after taking a quick look at the shopping district, I found a place to sit along the river in the shade.  There were boat trips for tourists going up and down the river, including one which appeared to offer Dixieland.

  

When we gathered at the appointed place to get the bus, Hiroko had purchased and offered us all a taste of a famous Osaka dish made of octopus.  I declined.

We drove from the downtown area to our hotel which was attached to the airport.  The airport was constructed on an artificial island, opening in 1994.  There is a long and impressive bridge leading to it.

Hiroko got us checked in and distributed room keys, her last official act as tour leader.  We’re now on our own.