Kiyomizu and Fushimi Inari

As promised, here is the post about the ending of the first day on the road for the trip. Liz is very sneaky and saw that I had previously written this to post today. I was going to put the whole day in one post, but it was like 70 pictures or more. I broke it into two parts. Here is the second half of the first day. 

 After the zoo, we went to the Kiyomizu Temple which is one of the most famous in Japan. The street was lined with shops and people and things to buy. You would think this would be a pedestrian only street, but it isn't they had cars.

 They had a giant Tottoro shop where you could buy 100s of items emblazoned with the famous anime figure.

 Here is one of those cars. A stretch Hummer emblazoned with SWAT on the side of it. I am 93 percent sure that this is what Japanese people think Americans drive.

 The Kiyomizu temple. Famous for its water, it was founded around a natural waterfall that later gave birth to a zen temple.

 They have a 5-story pagoda there.

 I heard the bells on Christmas day?

 The entrance into the temple...admission cost, 500 yen.

 It sits right on the hill. This building you can see is the shrine for healthy babies. I tried to go for you Becca, but they were doing construction. The intention was there though.

 A world heritage site (which are everywhere).

 Money in the box for the Bhudda

 Looking off the famous balcony down at the waterfall.

 Most famous view of the balcony and Kyoto in the background.

 You can see the wood structures underneath that are hundreds of years old and make it such an interesting site.

 Another view with the outline of the pagoda.

 People taking drinks of the fancy water. We were going to get a drink, but the line was like 40 minutes. I have had magic water before...

 The Fushimi Inari shrine is one of the top 3 most famous in Japan. It is known for its many many many many MANY Tori gates. Here is the first one.

 They have these nameplates all along the entrance. I don't know what they are for, or what they say.

 Looking back toward the stone entrance gates.

 Going up the steps to the main shrine.

 The Fushimi Inari shrine is a fox shrine. There is a branch of Shinto that really worships and reveres the fox. Fushimi Inari has a ton of stone foxes in place of the lions.

 You can see the fox there with a scroll in its mouth.

 One for each side.

 This is where people put their money, ring the bell and pray.

 With all the orange at these shrines, I feel like I am at Nickelodeon Studios waiting to get slimed...

 These are little mementos and good luck charms that you can buy.

 Nice old couple ringing the bell.

 The Tori seemed novel at this point in the shrine.

 Side shrine.

 This guy was a worker at the shrine. He is wearing traditional Japanese shrine...guy clothes. I thought they were hammer pants at first.

 This is why Fushimi Inari is so famous. It has thousands of these Tori gates all lined up throughout the grounds. The shrine is huge and sprawls all over a mountain.

 You walk through the paths to the other areas of the grounds.

 Two roads diverged in an orange wood...

 They look like big orange cigarettes.

Taking you inside the action!

Yes, I do have a degree in Broadcasting. It shows? Thanks to my parents for the video camera!

 Stairs...there were stairs too.

 You may remember the wood blocks from the shrine in Tokyo, these ones look like foxes and you can draw faces on them!

 This is the map of the whole complex. All the lines that look like snakes are the Tori tunnels.

 People put mini Tori gates on their family shrines.

 You better believe that I bought one of these! For a mere 500 yen, I got a lucky charm that: "Will hope that you will make have a boyfriend of girlfriend of marry." I don't really know how it works though. It looks like a goldeny credit card with foxes on it.

 Not trusting to luck alone, I got something that is sure to get me a girlfriend or marry, money (I kid, but seriously). "This is a nature of money. This will hope that you can receive lots of money."

 Stone and orange gates.

 Those stairs I mentioned

 A sudden pond near all of the family shrines!

 You can see little stone foxes next to the candles.

 I thought this was a nice picture with the stone lanterns.

 After it was dark, we went to the hostel to relax for a while before venturing out for food. In our travels, we found the scenic road back to our hostel from the bus station. It was such a pretty walk. Brad and I both mentioned how disappointing it was that we were there with each other instead of a lady. That is why I got that foxy charm.

Really pretty.

 We made a giant mile and a half long loop before ending up directly under our hostel at a little family restaurant where we ate pork cutlet curry.

A 3 part series of more touring around Fushimi Inari. Feel free to watch or not...as time permits.

Golly Gee! So Many Gaijin!

Today, September 19th is National Respect for the Aged day. Cool holiday right? It basically entitles anyone over the age of 50 to get away with whatever they want with no fear of consequences. I mean, you have geriatrics jumping turnstiles, letting their dogs poop wherever they want and tons of shoplifting, obviously. I am obviously joking, but you are welcome for the mental images of folks in walkers doing those outlandish things. In America, September 19th is National Talk Like a Pirate Day. I think America wins, but in Japan, we got the day off. 

For the day off, I got myself up at 5 am and met with members of the Kofu Ward to go to the Tokyo Temple. After 3 or 4 hours of travel, we arrived in Tokyo at the LDS temple there. Recognize this?

 You can see the spire there in the center of the picture. On the right you can see the outer fringe of a big ol' park located within Tokyo. 

 No caption needed I suppose.

Picture from the parking lot. Celestial lighting provided by Mother Nature.

I was informed that this area of Tokyo has all sorts of English speaking folks. I am fairly sure that the American Embassy is located near by as well as a few for other countries. It was quite jarring to see groups of Gaijin walking around, biking, and being normal. It continued to get more and more confusing for me to see these other Gaijin from their respective countries. 

After the temple, we went down to a ramen shop. As I sat next to the missionaries, across the table from a woman who only speaks Japanese, I heard perfect, fluent English floating across and into my ears. As I looked around, I saw a group of 4 girls sitting at a table talking boisterously about how one girl did not in fact like the boy that it she is rumored to. It was a serious issue of cognitive dissonance. To make matters more interesting, I heard a popular American rap song come over the radio.

We got Baskin Robbins for dessert which was delicious. I stood with my jaw open at all of the English speakers and white people walking around without even taking notice of one another. For me, it was such a stark contrast to the world that I live in everyday. When I see another white person, I am shocked and amazed and feel an immediate need to run up and talk to them. Here, these folks were surrounded by hordes of English speakers and took no notice. 

It made me feel a little jealous, and also a little confused. The Japan I know is the one I live in. The Japan that these people live in is starkly different. I am jealous of their ability to speak to so many different people in their native tongue, but I am also very grateful for the Japan I live it. Mine is not so metropolitan and western, but I didn't really come to Japan to live in the West.

I am surprised at how much my view changed in the last two months of being here. My house is a western place, but I have gotten used to a lot of the Japanese way of doing things. I suppose that is why seeing other westerners in a different situation was so jarring. Also, British accents have always thrown me off.