Posted in culture, religion and philosophy, temples, kyoto on Jan 14th, 2007 No Comments »
Torii gates are symbols of Shinto shrines and mark their sacred space from the mundane world. The basic structure consists of two pillars with a top rail and a little below that a second horizontal rail piercing both columns, providing stability to the structure.
The greatest orgy of torii gates can be seen on the mountain […]
Posted in calendar, travel and places, temples, kyoto on Jan 11th, 2007 No Comments »
Marishi Sontendo is another temple of the boar (inoshishi) that is strong for luck and victory in this Wild Boar Year!
[Roaring wild boar in Marishi Sontendo, Kyoto. Photo Ad Blankestijn]
Zenkyoan (the formal name of the temple in question) was set up as a hermitage by the noted Chinese Zen priest Qingzhuo Zhengcheng (in Japanese: Seisetsu […]
Posted in culture, calendar, travel and places, temples, kyoto on Jan 10th, 2007 No Comments »
Toka (Tenth Day) Ebisu is a festival with prayers for happiness and success in business that is held at Ebisu Shrines around Japan, especially in the Kansai, between 8 or 9 and 11 January. The most important shrines are Imamiya Ebisu in Osaka, Nishinomiya Ebisu in Nishinomiya near Kobe and the Ebisu Shrine near […]
Posted in culture, history, travel and places, kyoto on Jan 9th, 2007 No Comments »
[Street lined with teahouses in Miyagawacho. Photo Ad Blankestijn]
Maiko are going along the teahouses in Miyagawacho, taking notes; they are probably preparing for Hatsuyori, New year’s greetings. Miyagawacho is one of the five hanamachi or geiko quarters in Kyoto. Although less famous than Gion or Pontocho, there are quite some traditional houses left. While the […]
Posted in culture, calendar, travel and places, kyoto on Jan 8th, 2007 2 Comments »
Today was one of those national holidays that only Japan has: Coming of Age Day (Seijin no Hi). All young people who turned twenty between 2 April last year or do so at the latest on 1 April of the current year celebrate that they are now adults and therefore allowed to smoke, drink and […]
Posted in travel and places, gardens, temples, kyoto on Jan 7th, 2007 No Comments »
“Let us sit down quietly and contemplate this garden of sand and stones,” starts the pamphlet handed out by Ryoanji. Unfortunately, nothing could be more difficult. This small temple with its exquisite stone garden, is daily overrun by hordes of tourists. Whole schools, cohorts of kids in sailor’s uniforms, march over the poor wooden floors. […]
Posted in travel and places, temples, kyoto on Jan 7th, 2007 No Comments »
This morning it was snowing in Kyoto, so I did what everyone is supposed to do under such circumstances: I hastened to the Golden Pavilion, Kinkakuji, to take the famous snow pictures. Kinkakuji took some time to reach (it is after all 40 min from Kyoto St), so when I arrived around noon the snow […]
Posted in calendar, travel and places, temples, kyoto on Jan 3rd, 2007 No Comments »
[The wild boar is the messenger of the Go-o Shrine. Photo Ad Blankestijn]
I visited the Go-o Shrine at least three months too early when I came here in last September. As you see on the picture above, this is the Shrine of the Wild Boar, so there could be no more fitting destination for […]
Posted in culture, calendar, travel and places, temples, kyoto on Jan 1st, 2007 No Comments »
The Yanaka Tour of the Seven Lucky Deities, set up by literati sometime in the Edo-period and running from Ueno via Yanaka to Nippori, is one of the oldest in Tokyo. But it was abolished in WWII and only revived after other rounds of the lucky gods had become popular, and at that time the […]
Posted in travel and places, kyoto on Jan 1st, 2007 No Comments »
The Kamo River is the spirit of Kyoto. It is at its most beautiful at the Y-shape where the Kamo (written with another Chinese character) and Takano rivers flow together - on the wedge between both rivers stands the Shimogamo Shrine with the Tadasu forest. The tip of the wedge has been turned into a […]