Today was another exciting and culturally diverse day in which my group went ‘shrining’ and hit up all of the local shrines in Kyoto and Nara. The first shrine we toured was in Kyoto and called Fushimi Inari-taisha. This shrine was dedicated to a fox (kitsune) who is a messenger of the shrine. The terrain was very steep and full of stairs and torii. Making the hike to the top wasn’t easy but we made it very far and learned a variety of shrine customs along the way. For instance, we learned the purifying ritual of cleansing your hands with clean water before entering a central shrine. We also learned that’s it’s extremely important to take off your shoes and use provided slippers when entering certain shrines in order to preserve the architecture. Learning these things made me feel much more connected to Japanese culture and how to act accordingly in a foreign country.
The second shrine we toured was in Nara and contained the world’s largest Buddha statue! It was interesting to tour it and learn how the temple itself helped deliver Buddhism across Japan. The reason the statues were built is to help connect the students with the six schools of Buddhism. Supposedly many people would bring gifts and donations to give to the main statue in order to show their thanks and praise. Though the shrine is now mainly used as a tourism spot, we learned that many modern day Buddhist practices and ceremonies are still carried out there today. It’s astounding to think that such an old building that was originally designed as an extension to the Buddhist schools would have such a diverse amount of visitors today.
Overall, I was very happy that I had an opportunity to visit these shrines because it exposed me to Japanese culture and worship. It also taught me a lot of Japan’s main historical points and both shrines were extremely unique in the fact that they were used for a variety of different practices. I look forward to seeing more of Japan’s culture in the future!
Adventures in Japan (日本の冒険) 