Kyoto

京都 Snapshots: November

And so we plunge into December, and I begin to freeze in my woefully lacking-in-central-heating room. My air con does heat, but it also doesn’t seem to know what 21 degrees is and aims for more like 30 degrees, leaving me perpetually too hot or too cold.It seems Japan  missed the memo that central heating is actually a pretty good idea.

This minor issue aside, I look forward to my first Christmas in Japan, and it seems Japan’s looking forward to it too – there are Christmas lights and decorations everywhere. Hopefully my next month will be filled with fun things to write about even though its getting cold.

Also exciting news blog-wise: I now have my own domain – Japangie.com! I had to buy a storage upgrade because of all the pictures I’m hosting on here and it came with a domain which is pretty cool.

For now lets mop up those bits and pieces from last month that have been sitting by waiting their turn for some attention. This will be a miscellany of temples, interesting buildings, Christmas lights and food, so I hope you enjoy some snapshots of what I’ve been up to.

紅葉 Autumn is Ending

Here are a few more pictures of the koyo (turning of the leaves) in Kyoto. This month was definitely koyo month for my blog – beautiful red leaves everywhere. Sadly it rained recently and most of the red leaves were blown away, so no more picturesque temples with autumn colouring I’m afraid.

These pictures were taken in the park nearby, by the Kamo River and near the Heian Jingu.

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 武道センター The Kyoto City Budo Centre

I came across this building on my way to Heian Jingu. I initially thought it was a temple and went in to check it out. It turns out it’s actually a dojo, and not only that but its the oldest martial arts training hall in Japan, built in 1899. At this dojo  you can train in most Japanese martial arts – Akido, Judo, Kendo, Karate etc. as well as ping-pong for some reason. Apparently they are pretty foreigner friendly (though they don’t speak English you’re still welcome to go) and offer one-off classes, so if you’re into martial arts you can train in a beautiful old dojo as part of your trip to Japan!

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 妙傳寺 Myoden-ji

This is yet another interesting building I found when I was wandering around Heian Jingu. This is a temple belonging to the Nichiren sect of Buddhism, founded in the 15th Century. It has been rebuilt several times – monks from Enryaku-ji burned down Myoden-ji in 1536 as part of Tenbun Hokke no Ran which was basically a war between the three main sects of Buddhism in Kyoto. The Tendai monks burned down temples like Myoden-ji for their affiliation to Nichiren Buddhism (Nichiren Buddhism was in competition with Tendai for taxing the people and owning land). In the process they also burned down over half of Northern Kyoto and a lot of Southern Kyoto too. So much for the peaceful teachings of Buddhism…

The current Myoden-ji was built in 1708. I couldn’t find anyone to stamp my book (it was after hours) but I had a quick look around.

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御辰稲荷神社 Otatsu Inari Shrine

This small shrine is opposite Heian Jingu, and I don’t think it gets many visitors as everyone wants to see Heian Jingu instead. I decided to go in and have a look because I think even small shrines are interesting to look around. This is one of the many sub-temples dedicated to Inari, the god of foxes and rice (the god of Fushimi Inari). The temple did have a Shuin so I got my book stamped. As it is a smaller temple the stamp is very simple – just the name of the shrine, the word ‘worship’ and the date – no fancy calligraphy but still nice to remember the shrine.

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Papa Johns Cheese Cake Company

This is a small shop just behind Doshisha University’s Imadegawa campus. I love cheesecake so I was happy to find that we have a shop so close. The cheesecake was absolutely delicious and the shop itself feels cosy. I would recommend it if you are living in Japan and craving cheesecake. I really like fruit cheesecake so I got a banana slice and a raspberry one, both were superb. Yes, two slices, sometimes you just can’t decide, and maybe you shouldn’t have to.

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Cafe-Creperie Le Bretagne

I got some really nice crepes at this place in Sanjo Teramachi doori. They also have this creperie in France so you know its going to be good, though it is a little pricey for students (around 1500円, £8, for most of the dishes).  My crepes were scrambled egg, ham and some onion mustard. They were really tasty. I would definitely recommend this place if you feel like some non-Japanese food for a change.

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土支社エーブ Doshisha Eve

Japan really likes Christmas, or at least Christmas decorations. My university gave us 3 days off for ‘Doshisha Eve’, the university’s cultural fair where clubs create stalls and they get acts to perform to the students. I dropped by briefly but I was mostly doing other sightseeing stuff (like Kobe, or Kiyomizudera). The Christmas tree they’ve installed is pretty impressive and almost makes up for them making us go to class on both Christmas eve and Boxing day. Almost.

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花 Flowers

I have recently got a job at Tadg’s Gastropub, which serves hard-to-find foods such as decent fish and chips and chicken pot pie. They also do craft beer and ale, so it’s basically a perfect job for me. Last week we had a wedding party book up the pub and at the end they left us some of the flowers to say thank you. I got to take some home, they’re still alive even a week later! I hope the couple have a long and happy marriage.

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I hope you all had a lovely November and have sufficient jumpers to get you through the colder months coming up! Next month we’ll look at Christmas and New year in Japan, and if I’m lucky, maybe it’ll even snow!

日本 Gods in Tiny Houses

Walking around Kyoto, you come across a temple almost every 5 minutes. You would think that this would house all the kami (gods and spirits) and provide ample space for worshippers, but it seems the kami are facing some kind of housing crisis. Glance down an alleyway or turn a corner and you might just stumble upon a tiny shrine.

These shrines, usually known as hokora (祠) are dedicated to various lesser kami that aren’t attached to a nearby shrine. Though the hokora are Shinto in origin, they often bear the Buddhist swastika, marking them as a religious site. Also in Kyoto many of the hokora are dedicated to Kannon, a bodhisattva – Kannon is one of the links between Japanese buddhism and shinto that shows just how mixed the two religions are, the god is both a kami and a bodhisattva. Therefore its probably better to just call them ‘Japanese’ rather than attempting to assign them a specific religion; some even concern local gods or lore rather than gods part of the whole country’s religious discourse.

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The hokora below has an inscription that reads “Commemorating 2600 years of the imperial era. Continued luck in the fortunes of war. Safety and wellbeing for one’s family“. Intrigued, especially by the reference to war, I looked up when 2600 years of the imperial era was – it was 1940, explaining the military inscription. February 11th 1940 was celebrated as 2600 years since Japan’s first Emperor, Emperor Jimmu, ascended the throne according to the Nihon Shoki.

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The very specific date of Feburary 11th for Japan’s founding is based on the old lunasolar calendar – according to the Nihon Shoki the Emperor ascended the throne at new year. This falls around the end of January, but the Meiji government, upon making it a national holiday, designated Feburary 11th to make sure people distinguished it from lunar new year.

The Meiji government made Foundation Day a national holiday in order to further legitimise the Emperor as the one sole ruler of Japan by celebrating the ‘unbroken’ bloodline. I say ‘unbroken’ because historians think that the first Emperor was actually usurped by the second or third Emperor rather than the Nihon Shoki’s assertion that the second Emperor was his son. Not to mention that the Nihon Shoki claims that the first Emperor lived to 126, making it even more historically dubious (it also says he was descended from a god…).

After World War II, Foundation Day was banned due to its connection to the cult of the Emperor and State Shinto. It was re-established in 1966, but without the same nationalistic ceremony or links to the Emperor it had before. It is now a day to reflect on what it means to be a Japanese citizen rather than an overt display of nationalistic pride.

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Hokora come in all shapes and sizes, some have lanterns, some have flowers, some have inscriptions explaining the temple they belong to, whereas others give no clue as to what god or temple they are linked with. The last two are hokora I saw in Kobe; the first in an alleyway to the side of a busy shopping street, and the second at the side of the harbour.

P1030221 - Copy P1030289Though small, these hokora are fun to spot and are always different. They often have fresh flowers, so it must be someone’s job to refresh them regularly. These tiny shrines are one more thread adding to the rich tapestry that is Japanese religion.