…I swear, at this rate, I might end much fatter when I leave for America, something which I thought would be impossible considering how much “healthier” Japanese food is supposed to be. Seriously, the Japanese seem to really love their sweets and fried foods! And it all looks so, soo tasty. o_o
As any standard Japanese person would tell you, Kyoto is the bastion of all that is traditional; it is the iconic city that represents Japan’s traditional culture. Given that fact, it should be no surprise that Kyoto has numerous famous Shrines. There’s Kiyomizudera, a shrine famous for it’s great overlooking view of Kyoto (as well as it’s seasonal beauty in the Fall). There’s Kinkakuji and Ginkakuji, more often recognized via Kinkakuji’s iconic gold-leaf-coated structure.
And there’s also Fushimi inari, the main shrine known for it’s endless number of torii shinto gates. There are literally thousands of these gates, which makes it difficult to mistake this shrine for any other shrine. Of course, it’s head deity can be recognized via it’s name, “Inari” being the Shinto god of foxes, fertility, and a bunch of other stuff.
There’s a long history to this shrine, but I won’t delve into the details (you can read all about it on Wikipedia or something). What I want to talk about is something a little less formal… Mainly, the damned walk up the shrine.
Yes, the shrine is located on the side of a mountain, and that makes the visit to Fushimi Inari an extremely tiring affair. Yes, make sure you’re ready for a good hike. On a side note, curiously enough, important shrines in Japan generally were on mountains or atop hills for historical reasons: partly due to Chinese influence, and partially due to the status it conferred (there’s a reason why the trek to the imperial palace is an uphill one).
One example of such small shrines
Nonetheless, back on topic; yes, the trek up the mountain is arduous. There are a lot of stone steps that dominate this shrine, but what makes it all fascinating are all the little shrines and alcoves that are littered along the way to the top. You see dozens of these little stone shrines along the path to the top, and each one usually has some small offerings left behind by tourists, or other little details that are fascinating to see. Yes, the trek up the mountain is tough, but it’s not exactly an unfulfilling experience.
The view from the rest area. ignore the random pole on the side…
As you climb the mountain, midway into the shrine, you’ll run across a small rest stop. It’s a small teahouse of sorts, complete with Japanese snacks, ice cream(!), and places to sit around and enjoy the scenery. Fushimi inari is nestled in the thick forests surrounding the shrine, completely with small little streams of water and other facets of nature coexisting with it. If you are a fan of nature, it’s a scenic place to be. Of course, as an added benefit, you get to see a lovely view of all of Kyoto from the rest location; I’d bet money and say that the overlooking view must look stunningly gorgeous at night (whether Fushimi inari is open at night is, well, a different story).
While I wouldn’t say Fushimi Inari was my favorite shrine visit, it was certainly a memorable experience. For anybody that wants to visit, though, my only suggestion is to bring enough motivation to climb to the top. Believe me, it took a concerted effort from me and my fellow visitors to make it to the top. Motivation was a tough thing to find that day…. sigh…. 🙂
This series of posts, Adventures Abroad in Japan, was all possible in part due to the generous scholarship from the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship. For anybody that is interested in Studying Abroad, do make sure to check them out!
…Not that I was expecting it to be a cakewalk or anything, but Kyuudou (Japanese archery) requires a lot of discipline and strength. I’ve barely started and I’m already quite exhausted (though perhaps that just speaks volumes about how physically unfit I currently am >_>).
Long story short, my study abroad program here in Kyoto requires that I participate in a “community activity”. While it’s called a “community activity”, the actual gist of the idea is that you get involved outside of class somehow (so you don’t need to volunteer at a hospital or anything… though you can if you want). Activities you could try include anything from “english teacher assistant”, to “manga museum assistant (which sounds awesome)”, to even something as simple as joining the frisbee team.
The big thing here, though, is that you need to go about this all by yourself, with little to no help from teachers or anything. So yea, this pretty much means you need to look up addresses and phone numbers, call people and ask questions in Japanese, arrange times to potentially meet with whomever necessary, etc. All this pretty much meant, to me, is that I would have to talk to Japanese people with my own horribly broken “mastery” of the Japanese language, all while embarassing myself the entire way. Fun, fun… >__>
Well, people do say the best way to learn is to go out there and do crazy things, and thus, I figured I might as well try something interesting while I’m in Japan. And after all, it would be a shame to come all the way to Japan just for to wimp out and decide to “play Frisbee”, though I guess having Japanese team members is a big plus here. Anyways…. and so, I ventured out to the dojo (武道センター) near Heian Jingu with a few friends, and mustered up the courage to meet the sensei face-to-face.
Now that I finally have a good, stable internet connection, it looks like I can finally post up some of the pictures that I’ve been taking after landing here in Kyoto. One thing I learned here is that Japan, unlike America, does not have free wifi in almost every other restaurant or bookstore. Kind of a shame, I liked my free wifi. On the plus side, you could totally tell that Kyoto is a very historical city. Heck, I went grocery shopping earlier today, but ended up taking dozens of detours to take pictures like the one above. There are a ton of old, traditional Japanese buildings in Kyoto, so much so that you will probably run into one on at least every other block. But yea, three hour grocery run with detours? Heck yea 😛
Distant Paradise 