金閣寺と龍安寺(Kinkakuji and Ryouanji)

So I know I just posted, but I couldn't help it. I figured I should post up a few pictures of my trip to 金閣寺(Kinkakuji) and 龍安寺(Ryouanji). First though, a little background info. Kinkakuji is the common name for the temple. It translates roughly as the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, but the proper name is Rokuonji. In the 1220's, it was actually the villa of Kintsune Saionji, which honestly, I'd love to have a villa like this. It's beautiful. There's a huge walk-through garden, and an amazing pond. Anyway, to keep things short, basically we have a former shogun who decided to build the place, and upon his death, it was made into a Zen temple. There are 3 styles to the temple. The first floor is done in the palace style, the second in style of the samurai house, and the third in the Zen temple style. The second and third styles are all done in gold leaf.

Ryouanji is most famous for its Zen rock garden. This garden contains only rocks and white gravel, which is swirled into different patterns. It's oddly breath-taking, and I could easily sit for hours just looking at it. It was created around 1500 or so. Ryouanji also has a huge pond which is called Kyoyuchi Pond. It was known for having many mandarin ducks. When we went though, we actually saw a crane in the middle. It was beautiful.

So, with that basis, let's continue. We biked to Kinkakuji, which was about a 45 minute bike ride from the dorm. When we got there, it was in the heat of the day, so we took a quick break for some green tea ice cream and some water. There were a lot of vending machines around, and honestly, I think that any person reading this blog should see them. Vending machines here are pretty cool. They have everything from tea to coffee to soda to water. You can buy cans, or bottles, or individually filled cups. They also sell cigarettes and alcohol, though you need to be able to prove your age for those. No worries for the younger generation there! Here you see pictures of the row of vending machines and an instant ramen vending machine.

Next, you can see the reason why I'm having such a hard time finding my way around Kyoto. Kyoto is difficult in a way. Tokyo has identifiable places on every corner. Kyoto is full of green space, so you can get lost easily. There's also a lot of hills, so you can't see ahead of you. And for this reason, my sense of direction is absolutely gone.

I also decided to include my ticket to Kinkakuji. I thought it looked kind of cool.

And now for the moment you've been waiting for, your view of Kinkakuji itself. Note how beautiful it is. The lake is a greenish color, but you can see the temple perfectly beneath it, which is the reason it is often called Mirror Lake.

And now for some foreign absurdity. I believe these were a group of businessmen being shown around by their Japanese guide on one of their off-days. They decided they wanted to make a temple. They explained it to their guide about 10 times, but he really wasn't getting it. Being a good sport though, he tried to do what they wanted.

I believe these are Buddhas. People tried to throw coins into the bowl in the middle. Although we didn't completely understand, we believed that they figured it was good luck.

At the end of Kinkakuji is the temple to the God of Fire. Individuals swing large ropes in order to strike the gong. Although there as nothing preventing us from doing so, most of us did not engage in this practice. It just didn't feel right for us to participate in something that we had no part in. You see the picture of that temple and the incense below.

Finally, the last place at Kinkakuji was this rope with pieces of paper tied to it. These are fortunes. If the fortune is good, you take it with you. If it is bad, you tie it to the rope and leave it here.

Finally, we move on to Ryouanji. I apologize for the lengthiness of this post, but there's a lot to say. The first picture is describing the history of Ryouanji. The second and third pictures are actually the Zen rock garden itself. This is the reason why Ryouanji is so famous. It is so peaceful here, and it really gives you time to think. Although my camera died during this session, Ryouanji is located right outside the gates of Ritsumeikan, so I'll be able to visit it again in the future. Maybe after class or something.

Finally, if you look inside, you'll see all of the painted walls. They're absolutely beautiful in their intricate details. Past the rock garden and around all of the other walls is this moss. It's absolutely surreal.

And so that concludes this post. I'm off to bed.

Michelle