Sea bream Ocha-zuke

This is one set of Ocha-zune with sea bream.
We can enjoy in three ways. At first, immerse pieces of Tai ( sea bream ) in the source. Enjoy the piece itself. Then put the piece on the rice, and eat. Thirdly, put the rest of sea bream on the rice and pour the tea to make Ochazuke.

These are pickles for Ocazuke. With these, you can enjoy Ochazuke further.

2000 yen for lunch at the restaurant in Arashiyama.

GizoBosastsu ( a Buddhist saint )

Among Botasu, probably Gizo-Bosatsu (bodhisattva ) is most loved by the people, called Gizo-san.

It is said that Gizo Bosatsu can go any of  6 worlds in Buddhism and salvage suffering people from there.

There used to be a man called Onono- Takamori, who could go to and come from  another world. One day, when he was in another world, he saw a man who was walking in the hell with the edge of his clothes burning. The man was trying to salvage the suffering people there in spite of the burning clothes. That was Gizo.

I heard another story.
When babies or young children died and went to the border of another world, they miss their parents and cry and cry.
At that time, Gizo comes and take them, by holding their hands, to the heaven. 
When you walk along Teramachi street from Sanjo to Oike street, you will find a small temple called "Yata dera" temple.

 Can you see a bell in front of you? In Kyoto, there are two bells. One is the one for welcoming the departed soul to come home during Obon period in Buddhism
It is in Rokudo-chinko-ji temple..
 The people go to what is called "Rokudo-san" to ring the bell to tell their family in the heaven that they are ready to welcome them in Obon.
( Obon period is mid of August )

The other one is here. That is for sending the soul to the heaven. 

This is a charm with a shape of Gizo- san. How cute! People write their wish on its back. Some people go back home with it, and others leave it in this temple.
Somehow, when I was here, I felt my heart eased. 
This temple is very small but I am sure you will like it.

Why don't you come to see this cute Gizo-san?

Quiet place - one of my favorites

Even the temple near here is so crowded, this place still keeps quietness. 

That is why I like this temple. The entrance road to the gate is really easing.

I can't show you how the place is impressive with the picture. 

Ho-nen-in temple. When you are walking along Philosopher's path from Ginkakuji temple, you will find a small wooden sign which says "Honen-in" A few minute walk from here brings you to this quiet place.

The great monk, Ho-nen, who started Jodo-shu sect used to chant a prayer to the Budda, He was always chanting a prayer here. saying " Namiamu dabutsu"which is said to take you to the paradise in the heaven after your death.

When you walk in through the rusty gate, you will see two mound of sand. This expresses water.

Just walking between the two, you will be purified by the water.

 Except the special occasion, we can't enter the inside of the hall. But just walking around in the precinct is enough to satisfy and ease you.

Why don't you drop in at this temple on the way from Ginkakuji temple to Nanzenji temple?

Time 6AM to 4PM

Wagashi making

Have you ever seen the beauty of Japanese wagashi or Japanese confection? It is just a sweet thing but it has something more than that. It is mainly made from beans and sugar. However you can see something with which you can feel a season, such as cool stream in summer, an orange persimmon in fall and so on. It requires a special skill to make.
You can take a look of this traditional skill and experience it. Some wagashi shops give a service of candy making class.

To make a real wagashi requires a very delicate work. Making a flower shape, making each petal, and making gradation changing from one color to another are difficult for us but much fun.

After the class we enjoy maccha tea ( tea for tea ceremony) and wagashi made in this shop.( not your making ). And then we take a look at the professional technique.
Of course you can take what you made and enjoy it later.

If you have a little time to have this experience, why don't you try it?

Byodoin temple

In some Japanese gardens, we can find something to be delicately devised. Let's think about the garden in Byodoin temple. As I talked before, the people in those days were eager to realize the pure land in Paradise here in Uji. That is why you can see phoenix hall in the west. When you see the hall from across the pond, the face of Amida Buddha can be seen just through the round window of the hall. When you stand in the hall, look up the corner of the ceiling. The wavy light there is something like the one in the heaven. Yes. But how does it waver like that ?
Look at the left corner of the pond! It is just behind the edge of the hall. Did you notice that there is a little fountain at this point of the pond? Water springs little by little, which ruffles the water surface. The water surface reflects the sun light and it gives an irregular pattern of shimmering light to the ceiling and the wall. In the old days, they felt as if they were in pure land in Paradise when they saw it.

To tell the truth, when I stood in the hall, the hall itself was actually very old and I couldn't feel I was in pure land. But the time when it was built, the color of the building was so vivid and colorful that it was totally different from what it is today.

Amida Buddha is said to come with an orchestra so that the dead won't have a fear at the moment of the death and take them to the heaven. The Amida Buddha is right in the center of the hall.

Thinking of the people and the hall in the old days, it makes me a little romantic.

Now Byodoin temple is under repair. The repair is scheduled to be completed in March, 2014

Monkey Park

If you have enough time during your stay in Kyoto, if you want to visit anywhere else after visiting temples and shrines, and if you like animals, how about visiting Monkey Park?

I didn't know Japanese Monkeys ( I don't know whether it is the proper way to call them) were special for visitors from abroad. However, the monkeys are to be seen in Asia, aren't they?

You can see and feed wild monkeys there.
After walking up the hill for a while, you will find some monkeys playing, sitting, walking here and there. If you want, you can get their food in the hut, and feed them from the inside of the hut. Inside?? Yes, from the inside! From the outside, the monkeys get food from you. At first it seems a reverse way, but it is actually safer. So feeding them outside is, of course, prohibited.

Anyway, feeding is a lot of fun.
Why don't you visit this Park ? Oh, one thing I have to say!! Please wear sneakers! The reason?
You can know when you get there!!

Martial art ( Kendo )

Are you interested in martial arts or Samurai? If so, taking a look at Kendo practice may be interesting. Butokuden is the traditional training center. Sometimes, high-ranked kendoists practice there in the DOJO or training hall.

When we stood in front of the door, I felt intense atmosphere. One of them walked to us and talked to me with a smile. He explained a little about them. Most of the kendoists we saw on the day were high-ranked. Especially three of them are ranked in the 8th grade. He said just 1% of 7th grade applicants can pass the so-called promoted test.

Actually the opponent of the 8th grade kendoist could not move due to his strong concentration giving no chance for attack. It was very impressing and I just did sit and stare them forgetting time to tick away.

In front of the Kendoists in the picture above is the place for Emperor when he came to see the match. A few decades ago, then Emperor came there and saw the matches held there.

f you have further interest in swords or Samurai, visiting the sword shop near the training center is also fun. You can see a suit of feudal arm and sword guards or dogi ( Aikido or Kendo outfits ) The swords in the picture are the ones for practicing Iaido or sword drawing.

Mourning the dead ( Adashino Nenbutsu dera temple )

People in the old days believed the paradise in Pureland was located in the west. We can find the fact in Byodoin temple in Uji because you will see the phoenix hall to the west when you see it across from the front pond. The west is the direction where the sun sets.
Adashino Nenbutsu dera( temple) is in the west of Kyoto, the end of Arashiyama area. In its name of Adashino, a kanji letter meaning "alchemize" is used. That is the place where "Life" alchemizes into "Death" and then the dead soul is reincarnated and has a new life. In the old time, people left the dead body there. I don't know why it was there. But I believe that is why it is the west and that they hoped to let the souls go to the pureland from the nearest place. ( This is just an interpretation of mine..)

A great monk, Kukai, buried the bodies and the remains there, held a service for the departed souls and prayed for them. People made and brought small stone statues and stone towers. Those in Adashino Nenbutsu dera are the ones for the dead who departed to another world in those days.
When you visit there, you will feel something solemn and specifically mysterious.
On August 22nd night, the temple holds an event for prayers. People come there and light candles and pray for the dead.

There is another stone Jizo. This is for unborn babies. When I visited there, I lit a candle and prayed for them.

This time, I visited this temple with a woman from Rumania. We talked a lot about this temple and how death is interpreted in Buddhism. It was a very hot day in summer. But walking from Arashiyama river side to this temple through the countryside gave us something valuable in our minds.
If you are interested in an insight of religion and local culture, visiting here will let you feel something unexpected.