Category Archives: Religion

To Recap: In May, 2012 I went to Asia on the “Three-Countries-Three-Weeks-Three-Kids” tour. The first stop on this once-in-a-lifetime trip was Shanghai, followed by several days in Seoul. Now I was footloose and fancy-free (i.e., lost a lot) in Kyoto, Japan. I found one of the most beautiful and interesting places I’ve ever seen — just search for “Kyoto (Part Two)” through “Kyoto (Part Nine)“. (Yeah, that’s a lot of pictures of one place.)  Now it was time to start seeing the other sights of Kyoto.

Throughout many of the shrines and temples in Kyoto were ponds such as this one. They’re not there by accident, but designed for their beauty and peace. This is where one could spend hours meditating.

The turtles had the whole zen thing down pat. As did the lotus blossoms.

The phrase I’ve seen recently is something like, “One should always meditate for one hour a day, unless one doesn’t have the time, in which case one should meditate for two hours a day.” I get it. I really do. I’m just having trouble executing that plan.

For the record, I was on a “mission from God” to get through as many new sites and experiences as I could cram into each country and city visited, so I was OBVIOUSLY doing the “calm” and “peaceful” thing incorrectly. (Also for the record, I was not the “ugly American,” I was just trying to maximize what might turn out to truly be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.) It would be wonderful to come back when I had hours to spend just sitting. Even someone like me might actually be able to unwind!

The Konchi-in Temple is a Zen Buddhist shrine. After the shrine was established in 1400 at Takagamine, it was moved to the current site in Kyoto in 1627.

The temple was built in the typical “shoinzukuri” style, with hip-and-gable roof designs. The doors slide open instead of using hinges, and were painted by Kano School painters.

While they’ve been maintained for centuries, it’s not to say that they’re absolutely the exact same way they were five hundred years ago. For example, I’m guessing that the neon light fixture at the top of the corner pillar on the left is not an original 15th century design.

Next to one of the temple buildings are more shrines in what I would guess to be a graveyard.

These rock gardens are exquisite. The pure, white gravel is groomed into all sorts of intricate patterns. On the far side you can see trees that have been meticulously groomed and cared for for almost five hundred years.

Here we stopped and sat for a while.

This (and the picture above) are the Hojo Garden, completed in 1632, and designed in part by Kobori Enshu,who also designed some of the other buildings on the site. These gardens have been officially designated as a “spot of scenic beauty.” It may have lost a bit in the translation, but we got the idea.

To Recap: In May, 2012 I went to Asia on the “Three-Countries-Three-Weeks-Three-Kids” tour. The first stop on this once-in-a-lifetime trip was Shanghai, followed by several days in Seoul. Now I was footloose and fancy-free (i.e., lost a lot) in Kyoto, Japan. I found one of the most beautiful and interesting places I’ve ever seen and I’m going to give you the final sets of pictures from that particular location in Kyoto.

After seeing the Fushimi Inari temples, the thousands of vermilion torii gates, the occasional shrine on a side path, warning about wild monkeys, finding every inch of space used, I finally found the top of the mountain.

Approaching the bottom of the mountain off to one side from the main temples and the point where I had started up the mountain, there was one final long stretch of vermilion torii gates.

One last set of shrines, along with the fox icons wearing vermilion yodarekake. However, the end was near, at least as far as Fushimi Inari goes, since I could see houses just a few yards ahead. There’s no extra space wasted on anything, remember?

Then, as the path led out to the street next to what seemed to be nothing other than normal houses on either side, there were these very non-Inari Okami-like statues and shrines. To my semi-educated eye (at least as far as Eastern religions go) these seem to have elements of Buddhism and Hinduism in them.

At the same time, the pose of the large statue and the baby being held all gave it an odd “Virgin Mary” look that I didn’t understand. To see it at the exit to the Inari temple site was even more odd, like it had been put there deliberately to expose visitors to an alternative theology.

That’s just my ignorant American’s gut-feeling view — if anyone actually knows what it is and why it happens to be here, just feet from the exit of the Inari shrine, I would love to be educated.

I worked my way back along a residential street to the main entrance to Fushimi Inari. I left through the main gate that I had missed coming in. (I had been just a bit lost, if you recall.) One last giant vermilion torii gate, then there were houses, mini-markets, and the (correct) train station to get me back to Kyoto Station.

Kyoto Station is huge, a hub of local, regional, and national rail lines. Just outside of the main doors is this beautiful and monstrous lattice roof and unique architecture.

Directly across the street is the Kyoto Tower, which I had only seen at night when I came in the previous evening. The area around the station and tower is a very colorful, vibrant, busy section of the city, which I found quite enjoyable. I prowled around at all hours for the couple of days I was there, shopping, eating, and exploring.

Going out to dinner with my daughter that evening, we went past the Kyoto City Hall, which is where the Kyoto Protocol was negotiated and signed in 1997.

Heading toward our restaurant, just down the block we found a construction site. I found these barriers so much more interesting, whimsical, and entertaining than the ugly and routine sawhorses, orange plastic fencing, and yellow hazard tape that seem to be the norm in the US.

To Recap: In May, 2012 I went to Asia on the “Three-Countries-Three-Weeks-Three-Kids” tour. The first stop on this once-in-a-lifetime trip was Shanghai, followed by several days in Seoul. Now I was footloose and fancy-free (i.e., lost a lot) in Kyoto, Japan. I found one of the most beautiful and interesting places I’ve ever seen and I’m going to give you the first of two final sets of pictures from there.

After seeing the Fushimi Inari temples, the thousands of vermilion torii gates, the occasional shrine on a side path, warning about wild monkeys, and finding every inch of space used, I finally found the top of the mountain.

As someone who lives in a desert with attitude (i.e., Los Angeles) I was fascinated by the sub-tropical rain forest ecosystem. The contrast was stiking between the vermilion torii gates and the foliage in a million shades of green.

As you get near the top of the mountain you can get a new perspective, looking down on bits and pieces of the paths below you, as well as the forest canopy.

Another fountain with some sort of beast depicted, wearing the traditional vermilion yodarekake. Given that the fox is the animal most commonly associated with the kami Inari Okami, I’m thinking it’s a fox, but it looks much more like a seal or an otter.

I just never got tired of these views.

At the mountain’s highest point I found another collection of dozens and dozens of shrines. There were only the narrowest of paths between them. Many of the interior paths between shrines had a significant amount of spider webs across them. Since it’s my understanding that the families associated with these shrines come to visit them regularly, I can only conclude that they’ve got some very active and healthy spiders up here.

Just beyond these shrines there’s a point where you can look down on the city, in this case through the drizzle and clouds. I don’t know the official height of the mountain, although I found some references to it being 233 meters (764 feet).

Several routes come together at the top of the mountain, so of course I had to take a different one down than the one I had come up!

Here I found a shrine built to allow candles and incense to be burnt, as well as the two built-in stone vases. For the record, all of the flowers I saw on all of the shrines were fresh, not decorative, which is one of the reasons I believe that the shrines are visited and tended to frequently.

The flags and banners were something I saw while going down this path that I hadn’t seen going up one of the other paths. There seemed to be a handful of shrine sites all near each other that all had these on display. It made me wonder if there were different factions or sects around the site, all having a connection to Fushimi Inari-taisha as sacred ground, but each with their own slightly different customs. Mind you, I don’t know if that’s true, but I did wonder about it.

To Recap: In May, 2012 I went to Asia on the “Three-Countries-Three-Weeks-Three-Kids” tour. The first stop on this once-in-a-lifetime trip was Shanghai, followed by several days in Seoul. Now I was footloose and fancy-free (i.e., lost a lot) in Kyoto, Japan. I found one of the most beautiful and interesting places I’ve ever seen and I’m going to continue to bombard you with share dozens of pictures from there with you for the next few weeks.

Climbing up from the Fushimi Inari temples, I was enraptured by the vermilion torii gates lining the maze-like paths. Coming over a rise I came to the first place that I had found (there might have been others lower down the mountain on other routes) where there was a break in the vermilion gates and a side path to a small area of shrines.

Here the torii gates were still in evidence everwhere, but they were carved stone, not vermilion-painted wood.

It’s very lush and moist here, so everything’s covered in moss. Here you can also see two more fox statues wearing their (faded) vermilion yodarekake (votive bibs).

The path of vermilion torii gates is behind us here. You can also see new symbols in use, the white cloth or paper “lightning bolt” shapes hanging from the gate.

The “lightning bolt” symbols are clearly seen here. (I don’t know what they are or what they represent. If anyone knows, please let me know in the comments.) Also, it was interesting to see how these very weathered and ancient stones (headstones?) had been reset on very new marble bases.

My understanding is that these shrines are owned and maintained by families in the community, to honor their ancestors and families. They’re really in it for the long haul. I would love to know how old some of these shrines are. Conceivably some could be twice as old (or more!) as the gravestones I found at Rockingham Meeting House in Vermont.

Altars. Offerings. Small braziers. (Is incense burned here?) The braided, red and white striped rope hanging down at the center of the altar. As someone raised Catholic, it’s all fascinating, both different and familiar simultaneously.

Look at how old and weathered some of these stones are. They must be hundreds and hundreds of years old — and still maintained. It was humbling to be here.

Looking back, through the lush forest, the path of vermilion torii gates that I came down really stands out.

Stretching back up the knoll the way I had come down…

…and the path leading onward out of this glade and further up the mountain.

We climb again.

To Recap: In May, 2012 I went to Asia on the “Three-Countries-Three-Weeks-Three-Kids” tour. The first stop on this once-in-a-lifetime trip was Shanghai, followed by several days in Seoul. Now I was footloose and fancy-free (i.e., lost a lot) in Kyoto, Japan. I found one of the most beautiful and interesting places I’ve ever seen and I’m going to continue to bombard you with share dozens of pictures from there with you for the next few weeks.

Now we’re getting to the really good stuff. Remember, you can click on any photos to get larger versions.

Leaving behind the Fushimi Inari temples at the base of the mountain, we start to climb the mountain. I didn’t ever find it to be a particularly strenuous or steep climb, nor is it miles and miles to the top. But there will be places where you’re huffing and puffing a bit, especially if you’re toting a backpack full of cameras. (Ahem…)

Here for the first time you can see the rows upon rows of vermilion torii gates that line the paths up the mountain.

While they’re all initially painted the bright vermilion color that’s associated with Inari Okami, they fade in the weather and are repainted at different times, leaving an endless variety of colors from near-white, to pink, to red, to bright orange.

The paths split and wind around the hill, only to re-split, re-connect, and split yet again. It’s not so much a maze as it is a chance to tour the mountain using dozens, if not hundreds, of different routes.

Yet another junction, a chance for you to choose your path forward. (Very zen! Probably the wrong religion.) I didn’t see any signs or markers indicating which path was which, at least not in English, so if you’re going to be obsessive about going on every route or something, you may have a problem.

There are many, many interesting perspectives. As you can see, many of the posts on the torii gates have Japanese inscriptions on them. I believe they’re prayers or the names of ancestors or sponsors, but I could be wrong.

Looking back at the same torii gates, I noticed there aren’t any inscriptions on the other side. I’m sure there’s a reason or significance, but I don’t know what it is.

Then I found a side path that looked quite different, heading off into a glade. The torii gate here is not painted (but is still beautiful) and at least at first there’s just the one large on at the entrance.

Inside the shrine in the glade, there are a few vermilion gates. For the first time I saw small family shrines. I was told that the shrines are built and maintained by families for their ancestors, but it’s not clear if they actually contain ashes as a Western graveyard would, or if the shrines are just ceremonial memorial sites.

Next time we’ll look more at the small family shrines here (they seem to be different in many ways from the shrines higher up the mountain) and get some fantastic views of the torii gates from outside.

To Recap: In May, 2012 I went to Asia on the “Three-Countries-Three-Weeks-Three-Kids” tour. The first stop on this once-in-a-lifetime trip was Shanghai, followed by several days in Seoul. Now I was footloose and fancy-free (i.e., lost a lot) in Kyoto, Japan. I found one of the most beautiful and interesting places I’ve ever seen and I’m going to bombard you with share dozens of pictures with you for the next few weeks.

Just outside of the side entrance of Fushimi Inari-taisha where I came in was this board, which appears to be a way for posting prayers of some kind.

Inside the gate, I found this, a fountain with bamboo ladles. I also saw them at other places throughout Fushimi Inari, but this was the largest, and the only one with instructions.

The instructions, however, didn’t do me much good. Even if you’re going by the pictures, which I was, knowing 0.000% of Japanese kanji, the pictures weren’t obvious. Were they supposed to be read left to right (as most Western cultures do) or right to left (as Japanese does). If I had to guess I would have said the steps were to pick up a ladle; either wash your face, drink some water, or whatever you do, don’t do either of those things; wash your right hand; and wash your left hand. The second image is the one that I had considerable ambiguity about.

While not a religious person myself, I am quite aware of the importance of religion in the lives of many others. I wouldn’t ever knowingly mock or belittle someone else’s religion or their beliefs. (Well, okay, there is Scientology, but I really don’t consider it to be a religion. Sorry.) I also try to be aware when travelling, there may be religious practices or rituals that are open to causing a misunderstanding or a problem, either because I’m not supposed to participate or because I am. It’s a conundrum.

In this case, I couldn’t tell if this was like crossing yourself with holy water before entering a Catholic church (and I should do it) or if it was the equivalent of a Catholic sacrament and therefore something for only the devout to do. Since the instructions were ambiguous, I passed. Perhaps someone who knows can clarify in the comments so I’m better informed for the next visit.

At the base of the mountain there are a couple of large temples and several smaller temples. Unlike the buildings in Seoul at the Imperial Palace that I toured, which were living quarters and government buildings, all of the buildings here are temples. There are similarities in the designs, but also significant differences.

One very noticeable difference to me was the paint schemes used. The ceilings and areas underneath the awnings in Korea were intricately carved with a whole rainbow of bright colors and shades. Here the carvings and decorations typically were simpler and more symmetrical, all painted in patterns using the same bright orange-red color as much of the rest of the temple buildings.

This is the shrine’s haiden, a Shinto oratory. In the Shinto religious architecture, the haiden is where the kami (sacred Shinto spirits) are worshiped and ceremonies are held.

This is one of thousands of fox statues to be found throughout the site. The fox is a common depiction of the kami Inari Okami, with Fushimi Inari being the primary temple dedicated to Inari. The fox statues usually come in pairs to represent the both/either male and/or female nature of Inari. Since Inari is the symbol of fertility, agriculture, rice, and saki, the foxes are often shown holding wheat in their mouth. The foxes are also generally shown wearing red yodarekake (votive bibs or neck scarves), although I never learned the symbolism or meaning to them.

Inside the haiden there were candles and lanterns, as well as what appeared to me to be tables or altars of various kinds holding things I didn’t recognize. A priest or priestess (facing away from me, so I couldn’t tell which) was kneeling at one of the largest altars, dressed all in white robes, and reading (prayers, I assume) from a scroll or parchment. As the prayers were read, worshipers would come and go, standing outside, and occasionally pulling on these red and white ribbons to ring the bells above them.

Again, while not a participant, I’m still intrigued by the various ceremonies, rituals, and most of all, by the beautiful architecture. Cathedrals in Europe or haiden in Asia, it’s all interesting.

Now that we’ve seen the temples at the main shrine at the base of the mountain, it’s time to start climbing.