Ryoan-ji

– Ryoan-ji – 龍安寺 – Kyoto(京都) – August 8, 2018 Ryoan-ji is a Zen temple and home to one of the world’s most famous rock gardens. Originally a villa belonging to the Fujiwara clan in the Heian Period, it was converted into a Buddhist temple in 1450 and the pond, which still exists today, was also installed. The rock garden itself is a mystery. No one knows when it was made, who made it, or what its purpose was. It’s 25 by 10 meters large with 15 differently sized stones arranged in five groups on top of moss islands surrounded…

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Kiyomizuera: Fudondou

– Kiyomizudera Fudondou – 清水寺不動堂 – Kyoto(京都) – August 7, 2018 Kiyomizudera (Pure Water Temple) is a sprawling temple in the Higashiyama part of Kyoto. The Hondo, or Main Hall, is famous for it’s stage that hangs over the hill below. Near the Hondo are several other shrines and temples. This is the goshuin for Fudondou located near Otowa Waterfall. The stage attached to the Hondo is about 43 feet above the hill and is built without nails using traditional methods. Down the stairs from it is Otowa Waterfall and Fudondou. Hundreds of people line up to drink from its…

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Kiyomizudera: Amida-ji

– Kiyomizudera Amida-ji – 清水寺阿弥陀寺 – Kyoto(京都) – August 7, 2018 Kiyomizudera (Pure Water Temple) is a sprawling temple in the Higashiyama part of Kyoto. The Hondo, or Main Hall, is famous for it’s stage that hangs over the hill below. Near the Hondo are several other shrines and temples. This is the goshuin for Amida-ji, a temple for the Amida Buddha The stage attached to the Hondo is about 43 feet above the hill and is built without nails using traditional methods. Down the stairs from it is Otowa Waterfall. Hundreds of people line up to drink from its…

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Kiyomizudera: Okuno-in

– Kiyomizudera Okuno-in – 清水寺奥之院 – Kyoto(京都) – August 7, 2018 Kiyomizudera (Pure Water Temple) is a sprawling temple in the Higashiyama part of Kyoto. The Hondo, or Main Hall, is famous for it’s stage that hangs over the hill below. Near the Hondo are several other shrines and temples. This is the goshuin for Okuno-in, a small temple just past the main hall. The stage attached to the Hondo is about 43 feet above the hill and is built without nails using traditional methods. Okuno-in, while a lovely building on its own, is probably the best place to take…

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Fushimi Inari Shrine (Oku)

– Fushimi Inari Shrine (Oku) – 伏見稲荷大社奥社 – Kyoto(京都) – August 7, 2018 Fushimi Inari Shrine is a large shrine in the Fushimi ward of southern Kyoto that’s famous for it’s long, red torii gate lined paths up Mt Inari. It is the head shrine of all the inari shrines across Japan dedicated to Inari, the shinto god of rice. There are over 30,000 in Japan, making it the most numerous of all the kinds of shrines. In addition to its famous red torii, you can also find statues of foxes throughout the premises. Foxes are believed to be the…

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Fushimi Inari Taisha

– Fushimi Inari Shrine – 伏見稲荷大社 –Kyoto(京都) – August 7, 2018 Fushimi Inari Shrine is a large shrine in the Fushimi ward of southern Kyoto that’s famous for it’s long, red torii gate lined paths up Mt Inari. It is the head shrine of all the inari shrines across Japan dedicated to Inari, the shinto god of rice. There are over 30,000 in Japan, making it the most numerous of all the kinds of shrines. In addition to its famous red torii, you can also find statues of foxes throughout the premises. Foxes are believed to be the messengers for…

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Naritasan Shinshoji: Iouden

Naritasan Iouden Goshuin

– Naritasan Shinshoji – 成田山新勝寺 – – Iouden – 醫王殿 – Narita (成田) – December 27, 2017 Iouden is a very new temple that was built in 2017. Everything is so shiny and the fresh cut wood still smells amazing. I love old temples, but the smell of a newly built wood building is amazing. Also the fresh black lacquer was like black glass. It was beautiful. I visited home for the first time in almost two years during winter vacation this year. On the way home I had a whopping 8 hour layover in Narita, so I decided to…

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Naritasan Shinshoji: Komyodo

Goshuin from Naritasan Komyodo

– Naritasan Shinshoji – 成田山新勝寺 – – Komyodo – 光明堂 – Narita (成田) – December 27, 2017 Komyodo is a small temple building that was built in 1701. Nearby, you can see the open air hall, Gakudo. For some reason, I really liked the way Gakudo looked. Something about the plaques and signs hanging all over it felt nice. I visited home for the first time in almost two years during winter vacation this year. On the way home I had a whopping 8 hour layover in Narita, so I decided to go check out Narita-san Temple. Naritasan Shinshoji has…

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Naritasan Shinshoji: Shusse Inari

Naritasan Shuse Inari Goshuin

– Naritasan Shinshoji – 成田山新勝寺 – – Shusse Inari – 出世稲荷 – Narita (成田) – December 27, 2017 Shusse Inari is an example of the odd mixing that occurred between Shinto and Buddhism in Japan. It’s totally a shinto style inari shrine but it’s a temple. Unlike most of the locations on the Naritasan Shinshoji grounds, it also doesn’t appear on the English information map but does appear on the Japanese one. I’m not sure why. I visited home for the first time in almost two years during winter vacation this year. On the way home I had a whopping…

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Naritasan Shinshoji: Shakado

Goshuin from Shakado in Naritasan Shinshoji

– Naritasan Shinshoji – 成田山新勝寺 – – Shakado – 釈迦堂 – Narita (成田) – December 27, 2017   Shakado is one of the temples on the grounds of Naritasan Shinshoji. It was built in 1858 and was originally the main hall before the Great Main Hall was built. It’s much smaller than the Great Main Hall. I visited home for the first time for my winter vacation this year. My itinerary included a whopping 8 hour layover in Narita, so I decided to go check out Narita-san Temple. Naritasan Shinshoji has several temples on the grounds and you can get…

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