May
10, Thursday
Entering through the main gates of Nijo Castle grounds
When we arrive at the main building of the palace, it is "shoes off" to walk on the extremely clean Tatami mats. Unfortunately, no photos are allowed inside.
Here is a map outlining the five buildings of the castle, all connected by indoor corridors. The picture on the top right hand corner is of one of the wall paintings withing the castle
Here is a photo of one of the main rooms; very historical
And a map of the grounds of Nijo Castle
This is the main entrance to the palace, very elaborate roof structure
and a close up of the carved wood image under the eaves of the entrance.
The place is very busy, lots of school groups in addition to bus tours and other tourists
We enter the gardens of the Castle. The building in this picture would be the middle one.
Zoom of the elaborate roof decorations. Note that ALL OF IT IS MADE OF WOOD !
People peeking under the walkway to see how the Nightingale floor is made
Into the gardens of the Nijo Castle
This is the last building in the series, where the Shogun had his private rooms with "number 1 wife" and all his concubines.
Looking under the walkway to see how the "nightingale" floors are made. The metal brackets are what makes the floors squeak.
Everyone else has a peak as well.
Back out the way we came in
A lion-dog on top of one of the roof eaves
Out of the main gate, back to the street
The moat and main walls surrounding the palace grounds
A look back at the main entrance to Nijo Castle
Another of the buildings on the grounds around the pond.
A golden phoenix on top of Kinkaku “Golden Pavilion”
Irises around the pond area
and a blue heron ! At least I think it's a blue heron.
Here is a zoom of the same picture.
From the other side of the pond
A small waterfall on the grounds of the temple
One of the roof decorations
Another shrine on top of the hill.
Lots of student groups travelling and all wear school uniforms. I’ve seen them everywhere throughout Kyoto and the train station; all very vocal ! but following their groups in a fairly orderly manner. Some groups are small, less than 10 students, while other groups are HUGE. Can’t help but remember Liz McCafferty and our High School bus trip to Florida, all the way from Smooth Rock Falls.
Three cheers for incredible teachers who had a positive impact on our lives!
Inside the small shrine on top of the hill
Coming back down the staircase towards the buses
Another dog-lion on the roof, but this one seems to be doing some type of acrobatic act.
So many students from across Japan, here on school visits
Our third stop this morning is at the Kyoto Imperial Palace. Security is tight here, we enter as a group and are followed by a guard the entire time. Unfortunately, we only get to walk around the grounds and view the buildings from the courtyards. Kind of a disappointment since this is a very historical site: Capital of Japan between 794 and 1603.
On the grounds of the Imperial Palace, every effort is made to save the trees by shoring up the branches.
Within the first courtyard, looking at one of the original gates.
Cute little guard area on the side
The gates are actually less impressive that other sites I've visited; I wonder why?
A look up at the eves, and the thickness of bark used for the roof.
A glimpse inside one of the open rooms, from outside. The walls are delicately painted.
These are the open rooms we get a glimpse into; shojii screen doors everywhere
Around the corner, we arrive at the Emperor's entrance to the palace rooms
and then make our way to the gates of the Shrine. Notice the bright orange colour? It was meant to copy the red colour used at the time in China. However whoever described it back then got it a bit wrong. When the Chinese came to visit (at some point in history) they were horrified to see this orange colour. But you will see from other pictures of sites I visited in Japan, the orange colour was used elsewhere at entrance gates to temples.
A glimpse into the gates at the huge temple within. At least I assume it is a temple !
Sure looks like a temple !
Here is a sample showing us how the roofs were made of bark
Roofs are made of Japanese cypress bark and are about 1 foot thick. They will last approximately 30 years before they need to be replaced.
The Imperial Palace: “The official name in 794 was Heiankyo; the city measured approximately 5.3 km from north to south and approximately 4.5 km from east to west. The Emperors who succeeded Emperor Kanmu held court at the Imperial Palace in Heiankyo, which served as both a political and cultural centre. The palace was rebuilt each time it was destroyed by fire. While the Imperial Palace was being rebuilt, it was customary for the Emperor to move temporarily to the residences of the members of the aristocracy. (Nijo Castle) In the late Heian period, the dairi (imperial palace) was not frequently used and the satodairi (temporary quarters) came to be used as the defacto Imperial Palace. During this period, the dairi was destroyed time after time by fire and warfare. It eventually fell into utter ruin, never to be rebuilt. In 1854 the Tokugawa Shogunate ordered than an Imperial Palace identical it its predecessor be immediately rebuilt, and the work was completed with exceptional speed by the following year. This is the Palace that still stands today.”
We then get a chance to walk through a small part of the gardens before heading off again.
A bridge over the pond
The pond
Another blue heron ? ! ! ! Wow, that's amazing.
Back into the palace grounds to view the last of the buildings
and some wall paintings visible within. Beautiful work
And there was a little sign explaining what everything was. Not much I could recognize, but it was really good.... except for that light green jelly stuff.
In front of the gates to Nishi-Horigami Temple
One of the temple buildings
A look inside the inner temple
Very elaborately decorated in gold leaf
Without the zoom
With the zoom !
Shoes back on, I walk over to the fountain, and find the usual dragon spouting water
And there are the lion-dogs, garding the eaves of the roofs
Another building has quite an elaborate top on it, which includes a dragon, a phoenix and a chrsysanthemum flower (depicting the imperial family).
One of the eaves is adorned with a bell that chimes when the wind blows. I actually purchased a miniature bell while I was in Tokyo (on my birthday) to use as a door chime when I start living in my mobile home on wheels!
I quickly walk back to the restaurant in time to catch the bus for the afternoon tour, but stop to take a picture of flowers that someone has placed on the sidewalk in front of their home.
In the afternoon we head for our first stop at the Heian-Jingu Shrine and gardens.
Driving over the Kamo River
Kyoto city streets
Houses along the river appear to be built one of top of the other.
The streets around the Gion area, where the Geishas work
We arrive at the Heian-Jingu Shrine and I stop at the fountain to take the picture of this little girl immitating others who are doing the hand washing ritual.
The main gates into the Heian-Jingu Shrine
The shrine is quite impressive. One of the largest I've seen.
One of the monks (or assistant) walking in the courtyard
A picture of the grounds as they looked historically.
We then enter the gardens and these are really worth the visit. Beautifully designed and maintained.
The pond area
With beautiful irises, quite different from others I've seen today
and the water lillies.
We continue our walk around a small lake, toward a huge wooden bridge in the middle
Some type of bush bearing fruit. Holly ?
I don't believe it ! Another Blue Heron ! Can't be the same one flying around the city; we've been from the north western side and now are south-east !
Beautiful red maple among the green
And yet another bush with some type of berry on it.
A view from the bridge to the other side of the lake
An oak tree with its reddish helicopters !
The blue heron is back and this time I get a close up shot of it.
Back into the temple grounds and another water fountain
From the inner courtyard, looking out through the main gates, I can see the Torii Gate in the distance.
Zoom of the torii gates.
the Sanjusangen-do Temple
and its gardens
The temple
Inside the temple are the 1001 statues of the Buddhist deity. Unfortunately no photos are allowed to show you this impressive display of life size statues. There is also one giant seated statue, a “National Treasure” placed at the centre of the standing statues. The statues are made of Japanese cypress. “124 of the standing statues were made in the 12th century when the temple was founded. The other 876 were made in the 13th century when the temple was renovated.” WOW ! “”The original temple building was lost to fire, but the building was reconstructed in 1266. That structure remained unchanged for 700 years; since then 4 more renovations were done. The long temple is about 120 meters long and made in the Wayo Japanese style. Architecture. As there are 33 spaces between the columns, this temple came to be called Sanjunsangen-do” (hall with 33 spaces between the columns ! ! !)
Photo taken from pictures on brochure. The main Buddha.
Some of the 1001 standing statues
Thunder God & Wind God: on either side of the temple hall (12th – 14thcentury). People worshiped these as deities and brought good harvests.
Two of the 28 guardian deities: There were 28 other guardian deity statues in a straight line in front of the 1001 Kannon statues. These deities are all from ancient Hindu culture.
Since the temple is so long, 120 meters long, archery contests were held in front of it, on the verandah.
We continued our visit of the grounds
more gardens
More beautiful irises
And we leave the temple. Can you tell I'm all templed out ? ! !
As we drive to the last site
It is a 10 minute climb uphill on Kiyomizuzaka Street to the temple site.
And the street is packed with students and other tourists
We reach the top of the street and find the entrance gates to the Kiyomizudera Temple
And we still have to go up, climbing another 5 minutes to reach the main temple building
The usual water fountain dragon
A view from the temple balcony down to the water well below
a zoom on the well and the people lining up to drink from the water coming from high up in the mountains
Young girls dressed in their fancy kimonos
The top level of the temple buildings
What the sign says
From across the way, a look back at the main temple building balcony where I was taking pictures just a few minutes ago of the well below.
Further down the path, for a better view of the main Kiyomizudera Temple
and a fantastic view of Kyoto in the valley below
Back towards the temple and the descent through the back way
Down near the water well
Along the path below the main temple. This is the structure holding the entire balcony
Almost back at the entrance gates
And voila ! Full circle of the temple grounds
Walking back down Kiyomizuzaka Street, looking into some of the shops along the way
Japanese fans anyone ?
Just before getting on the bus, I buy a "green tea" ice cream cone. It's OK, I'm glad I tried it. Won't buy another one however; it's kind of bitter.
Back to the Tokyo station to drop off some passengers. This is the back side of the station with its amazing architectural detail.
It’s been a long day and I’m glad to get back on the bus and get a ride back to my hotel… almost to the door step.What a nice bus driver;I was the last one off, along with the guide who was heading home using the metro station !
Hinduism: 1) Have gods, the main ones being Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva….and there are about 330 million lesser gods ! YIKES, no wonder I’m confused. 2) Re-incarnation means you are reborn to a higher cast system. 3) Wasn’t created by anyone in particular; it is an individual approach. They believe that Buddha is the last avatar of Lord Vishnu.
I’m up really early this morning since I need to be at
the “pick-up hotel” before 8 am. I stop
at a nearby Starbucks for a coffee and cinnamon bun before continuing to the
Monterey Hotel. Right on time, the tour
agent arrives and whisks us away by cab to where the bus is waiting. There were four other people at the Monterey,
all from France, and I enjoy speaking French again; it’s been awhile.
Our first stop is Nijo Castle “The castle was originally built in 1603 as the official Kyoto
residence of the first Tokygawa Shogun, Iemitsu. It is one of the finest
examples of early Edo period and Momoyama culture in Japan. In 1867, when Yoshinobu, the fifteenth
Tokugawa Shogun returned sovereignty to the Emperor, the castle became the
property of the Imperial family.” Sorry,
no photos allowed inside the palace, which consists of a series of 1 story
buildings. “The entire floor area of Ninomaru Palace is
3,300 square meters. It has 33 rooms and
over 800 tatami mats. The superb wall
paintings were done by prominent members of the Kano School.” 
Entering through the main gates of Nijo Castle grounds
When we arrive at the main building of the palace, it is "shoes off" to walk on the extremely clean Tatami mats. Unfortunately, no photos are allowed inside.
Here is a map outlining the five buildings of the castle, all connected by indoor corridors. The picture on the top right hand corner is of one of the wall paintings withing the castle
Here is a photo of one of the main rooms; very historical
And a map of the grounds of Nijo Castle
This is the main entrance to the palace, very elaborate roof structure
and a close up of the carved wood image under the eaves of the entrance.
The place is very busy, lots of school groups in addition to bus tours and other tourists
We enter the gardens of the Castle. The building in this picture would be the middle one.
Zoom of the elaborate roof decorations. Note that ALL OF IT IS MADE OF WOOD !
People peeking under the walkway to see how the Nightingale floor is made
Within the first sections of Ninomaru Castle, where
guests were first received, the floors are designed to squeak; this is called
the "Nightingale floor". And amazingly, it
does sound like birds as we walk down the corridors; one tourist actually asked
where they hid the birds ! ! ! Obviously
not a good listener. This design was
made to ensure that no one could sneak into the palace unnoticed.
This is the last building in the series, where the Shogun had his private rooms with "number 1 wife" and all his concubines.
Looking under the walkway to see how the "nightingale" floors are made. The metal brackets are what makes the floors squeak.
Everyone else has a peak as well.
Back out the way we came in
A lion-dog on top of one of the roof eaves
Out of the main gate, back to the street
The moat and main walls surrounding the palace grounds
A look back at the main entrance to Nijo Castle
Our second stop this morning is Kinkaku “Golden
Pavilion”; a Zen-Buddhist Temple containing relics of Buddha. The building burned down in 1950 and an exact
replica rebuilt in 1955; it is 12.5 meters high, “gold foil on lacquer covers the upper two levels and a shining phoenix
stands on top of the shingled roof. The name Kinkaku is derived from the gold
leaf that the pavilion is covered in. The gold employed was to mitigate and
purify any pollution or negative thoughts and feelings towards death. Other
than the symbolic meaning behind the gold leaf, the Muromachi period heavily
relied on visual excesses." It was added on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1994.
Kinkaku “Golden Pavilion”
A golden phoenix on top of Kinkaku “Golden Pavilion”
Irises around the pond area
and a blue heron ! At least I think it's a blue heron.
Here is a zoom of the same picture.
From the other side of the pond
A small waterfall on the grounds of the temple
One of the roof decorations
Another shrine on top of the hill.
Lots of student groups travelling and all wear school uniforms. I’ve seen them everywhere throughout Kyoto and the train station; all very vocal ! but following their groups in a fairly orderly manner. Some groups are small, less than 10 students, while other groups are HUGE. Can’t help but remember Liz McCafferty and our High School bus trip to Florida, all the way from Smooth Rock Falls.
Three cheers for incredible teachers who had a positive impact on our lives!
Inside the small shrine on top of the hill
Coming back down the staircase towards the buses
Another dog-lion on the roof, but this one seems to be doing some type of acrobatic act.
Our third stop this morning is at the Kyoto Imperial Palace. Security is tight here, we enter as a group and are followed by a guard the entire time. Unfortunately, we only get to walk around the grounds and view the buildings from the courtyards. Kind of a disappointment since this is a very historical site: Capital of Japan between 794 and 1603.
On the grounds of the Imperial Palace, every effort is made to save the trees by shoring up the branches.
Within the first courtyard, looking at one of the original gates.
Cute little guard area on the side
The gates are actually less impressive that other sites I've visited; I wonder why?
A look up at the eves, and the thickness of bark used for the roof.
A glimpse inside one of the open rooms, from outside. The walls are delicately painted.
These are the open rooms we get a glimpse into; shojii screen doors everywhere
Around the corner, we arrive at the Emperor's entrance to the palace rooms
and then make our way to the gates of the Shrine. Notice the bright orange colour? It was meant to copy the red colour used at the time in China. However whoever described it back then got it a bit wrong. When the Chinese came to visit (at some point in history) they were horrified to see this orange colour. But you will see from other pictures of sites I visited in Japan, the orange colour was used elsewhere at entrance gates to temples.
A glimpse into the gates at the huge temple within. At least I assume it is a temple !
Sure looks like a temple !
Here is a sample showing us how the roofs were made of bark
Roofs are made of Japanese cypress bark and are about 1 foot thick. They will last approximately 30 years before they need to be replaced.
The Imperial Palace: “The official name in 794 was Heiankyo; the city measured approximately 5.3 km from north to south and approximately 4.5 km from east to west. The Emperors who succeeded Emperor Kanmu held court at the Imperial Palace in Heiankyo, which served as both a political and cultural centre. The palace was rebuilt each time it was destroyed by fire. While the Imperial Palace was being rebuilt, it was customary for the Emperor to move temporarily to the residences of the members of the aristocracy. (Nijo Castle) In the late Heian period, the dairi (imperial palace) was not frequently used and the satodairi (temporary quarters) came to be used as the defacto Imperial Palace. During this period, the dairi was destroyed time after time by fire and warfare. It eventually fell into utter ruin, never to be rebuilt. In 1854 the Tokugawa Shogunate ordered than an Imperial Palace identical it its predecessor be immediately rebuilt, and the work was completed with exceptional speed by the following year. This is the Palace that still stands today.”
We then get a chance to walk through a small part of the gardens before heading off again.
A bridge over the pond
The pond
Another blue heron ? ! ! ! Wow, that's amazing.
Back into the palace grounds to view the last of the buildings
and some wall paintings visible within. Beautiful work
The bus takes us to a downtown restaurant where we are
treated to a nice Japanese lunch
After lunch I have about ½ an hour before we leave so
head just down the block to the Nishi-Horigami Temple for a quick visit. It is a large site and I only get to see the
first few buildings.
One of the temple buildings
A look inside the inner temple
Very elaborately decorated in gold leaf
A huge bell hanging from the rafters between the two buildings
As I mount the
steps to the main temple building, I obey the signs that indicate “shoes off”
and carry them with me as I walk along the outside gallery of the temple. The first building is open and I take pictures
of the beautiful interior; unfortunately when I get to the second building all
the doors are closed, but there is a round cut out in one of the doors possibly
to slide them open. I slide in my camera
lens and take a picture of whatever is inside.
Bad girl, I know, but it was worth it…... check out the picture !
With the zoom !
Shoes back on, I walk over to the fountain, and find the usual dragon spouting water
And there are the lion-dogs, garding the eaves of the roofs
Another building has quite an elaborate top on it, which includes a dragon, a phoenix and a chrsysanthemum flower (depicting the imperial family).
One of the eaves is adorned with a bell that chimes when the wind blows. I actually purchased a miniature bell while I was in Tokyo (on my birthday) to use as a door chime when I start living in my mobile home on wheels!
I quickly walk back to the restaurant in time to catch the bus for the afternoon tour, but stop to take a picture of flowers that someone has placed on the sidewalk in front of their home.
In the afternoon we head for our first stop at the Heian-Jingu Shrine and gardens.
Driving over the Kamo River
Kyoto city streets
Houses along the river appear to be built one of top of the other.
The streets around the Gion area, where the Geishas work
We arrive at the Heian-Jingu Shrine and I stop at the fountain to take the picture of this little girl immitating others who are doing the hand washing ritual.
The main gates into the Heian-Jingu Shrine
The shrine is quite impressive. One of the largest I've seen.
One of the monks (or assistant) walking in the courtyard
A picture of the grounds as they looked historically.
We then enter the gardens and these are really worth the visit. Beautifully designed and maintained.
The pond area
With beautiful irises, quite different from others I've seen today
and the water lillies.
We continue our walk around a small lake, toward a huge wooden bridge in the middle
Some type of bush bearing fruit. Holly ?
I don't believe it ! Another Blue Heron ! Can't be the same one flying around the city; we've been from the north western side and now are south-east !
Beautiful red maple among the green
And yet another bush with some type of berry on it.
A view from the bridge to the other side of the lake
An oak tree with its reddish helicopters !
The blue heron is back and this time I get a close up shot of it.
Back into the temple grounds and another water fountain
From the inner courtyard, looking out through the main gates, I can see the Torii Gate in the distance.
Zoom of the torii gates.
Our second stop this afternoon is at the Sanjusangen-do Temple, just a
block away from the Kyoto National Museum.
Kyoto National Museum
and its gardens
The temple
Inside the temple are the 1001 statues of the Buddhist deity. Unfortunately no photos are allowed to show you this impressive display of life size statues. There is also one giant seated statue, a “National Treasure” placed at the centre of the standing statues. The statues are made of Japanese cypress. “124 of the standing statues were made in the 12th century when the temple was founded. The other 876 were made in the 13th century when the temple was renovated.” WOW ! “”The original temple building was lost to fire, but the building was reconstructed in 1266. That structure remained unchanged for 700 years; since then 4 more renovations were done. The long temple is about 120 meters long and made in the Wayo Japanese style. Architecture. As there are 33 spaces between the columns, this temple came to be called Sanjunsangen-do” (hall with 33 spaces between the columns ! ! !)
Photo taken from pictures on brochure. The main Buddha.
Some of the 1001 standing statues
Thunder God & Wind God: on either side of the temple hall (12th – 14thcentury). People worshiped these as deities and brought good harvests.
Two of the 28 guardian deities: There were 28 other guardian deity statues in a straight line in front of the 1001 Kannon statues. These deities are all from ancient Hindu culture.
Since the temple is so long, 120 meters long, archery contests were held in front of it, on the verandah.
We continued our visit of the grounds
more gardens
More beautiful irises
And we leave the temple. Can you tell I'm all templed out ? ! !
Our third and last stop today is to the Kiyomizudera
Temple, which is on top of a hill on the eastern side of Kyoto.
It is a 10 minute climb uphill on Kiyomizuzaka Street to the temple site.
And the street is packed with students and other tourists
We reach the top of the street and find the entrance gates to the Kiyomizudera Temple
And we still have to go up, climbing another 5 minutes to reach the main temple building
Pagodas and other temple buildings on the way up
A view from the temple balcony down to the water well below
a zoom on the well and the people lining up to drink from the water coming from high up in the mountains
Young girls dressed in their fancy kimonos
The top level of the temple buildings
and the area for you to leave your prayers / wishes
From across the way, a look back at the main temple building balcony where I was taking pictures just a few minutes ago of the well below.
Further down the path, for a better view of the main Kiyomizudera Temple
and a fantastic view of Kyoto in the valley below
Back towards the temple and the descent through the back way
Down near the water well
Along the path below the main temple. This is the structure holding the entire balcony
Almost back at the entrance gates
And voila ! Full circle of the temple grounds
Walking back down Kiyomizuzaka Street, looking into some of the shops along the way
Japanese fans anyone ?
And more young girls wearing kimonos. I wonder if there is a special occasion ?
Back to the Tokyo station to drop off some passengers. This is the back side of the station with its amazing architectural detail.
It’s been a long day and I’m glad to get back on the bus and get a ride back to my hotel… almost to the door step.What a nice bus driver;I was the last one off, along with the guide who was heading home using the metro station !
In Japan they differentiate between Temples (Buddhist)
and Shrines (Shinto). During the
explanations about religious beliefs that the guide gives us, I realize that
during the trip through India I referred to Buddhist Temples, but some may have
been Hindu Temples. I tried researching
the difference, I jotted down a page full of notes…… and I’m still confused! Other than the fact that Buddhism is an
off-shoot of Hinduism (Siddhartha Gautama was a Hindu; when he found enlightenment
he became known as Buddha, creating Buddhism.
Similarly to Jesus who was Jewish and became known as Christ, forming
the Christian faith.) They share many of
the same basic beliefs: compassion,
non-violence, cause & effect, re-incarnation.
Major differences:
Hinduism: 1) Have gods, the main ones being Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva….and there are about 330 million lesser gods ! YIKES, no wonder I’m confused. 2) Re-incarnation means you are reborn to a higher cast system. 3) Wasn’t created by anyone in particular; it is an individual approach. They believe that Buddha is the last avatar of Lord Vishnu.
Buddhism : 1) There is no god, Everything is god. 2) Re-incarnation depends on Karma; the more
enlightened you become the better your next life will be. 3)
Created by Siddhartha Gautama; monks live in monasteries.
The best explanations I found are shown on this U-Tube
video; you can watch it if you are interested. But I must tell you that I met a Hindu lady later on and she said the above wasn't quite right. Oh well ! They appear to modify things to suit their beliefs, so I guess that's OK. http://youtu.be/DxXP2BliN9A
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