Finding a Shrine, which is so Bizarre

When I walk down a small street, I found a shrine. The building is, of course, Japanese style. But, shrine color was bit fade away. And there's nobody.

This is the stone torches. It looks old. Some parts have moss. And under the torch there're weeds. It's not really bad. 

But actually the white line, in front of torches are for parking lot. I don't understand why the shrine is in a parking lot.

Yeah, it looks the name of it. Old things have the meaning. Perhaps this shrine too.

Kyoto is sometimes such a strange city. Because of the history. When you explore, you can find something special in this city!

---

Link to Our Website
The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

Contact

Uji ~Two Shrines~

This time I am introducing two shrines which are close to each other in Uji.
They are Uji-janja Shrine and Ujigami-jinja Shrine.


This is the first one, Uji-jinja shrine.

This is the central gate of Uji-jinja Shrine.
Uji-jinja shrine is adjacent to Ujigami-jinja Shrine.


This is the second one, Ujigami-jinja Shrine.

This is the entrance of Ujigami-jinja Shrine.
Up to 1868, Ujigami-jinja Shrine was a part of Uji-jinja Shrine where there were two main sanctuaries, one known as the Rikyu-Kami Shrine and the other as the Rikyu-Shimo Shrine
This shrine was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as one of the "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto".


Unfortunately the inner shrine is under repair.
However you can visit the shrine.

In Uji there are lots of historical places to visit.

---

Link to Our Website
The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

Contact

Uji ~ the place of the Tale of Genji (源氏物語) ～

A few days ago I visited Uji in Kyoto.
Uji is a city which is famous for green tea.
However Uji is also famous for the Tale of Genji.


The tale of Genji is a classic work of Japanese literature written by Murasaki Shikibu.
It is considered the world's first novel.
Chapter 45~54 are called "Uji Chapters".

This is a stone statue of Murasaki Sikibu, the author of the Tale of Genji in Uji.
She was a Japanese lady-in-waiting at the Imperial court during the Heian period.

On this board chapter 48 is written in Japanese.

There are 10 boards in Uji and chapter 45~54 are written on them.

 

There is the Tale of Genji Museum in Uji.
There are many exhibits related to the Tale of Genji in this museum.
The admission fee is 500 yen per person.


If you are interested in Japanese literature, you should visit Uji.

---

Link to Our Website
The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

Contact

The Ryozen Museum of History(霊山歴史館）

This is The Ryozen Museum of History(霊山歴史館）.

It is located in Hikasiyama area in Kyoto.
It takes only 20 min by walk from A-yado.

It is a history museum and specializes in the history of Bakumatsu(幕末） period and Meiji Restoration(明治維新）.
The Meiji Restoration was a political and social revolution in Japan in 1866-69, which ended the power of the Tokugawa Shogun(徳川将軍） and returned the Emperor to a central position in Japanese politics and culture.

If you would like to learn more history about that, try to go there.
You might be a fan of the Bakumatsu period!!

---

Link to Our Website
The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

Contact

City with Parking Lot and Stone Marker

Which do you like? The parking lot or the stone marker. I, personally, like the stone marker. But some like parking lot probably. If you like the stone marker or a parking lot, please come to Kyoto. This city is sort of combination of both things. 

Yeah, it look very historical. Sometimes, from my view it seems strange because of the old thing and a new things.

That marker says "some samurai were died at this place in 1864. That happening is sort of big events. In the end of samurai period there were many many big happenings between the conservative side and the revolutionary side. That period is called "Meiji ishin(明治維新)" famous for Shinsen-gumi, an aggressive section of the conservative side and Sakamoto Ryoma(坂本 竜馬), who made a revolution. One of the most interesting period, and one of the most mysterious era. 

Kyoto has something in between New and Old. You can enjoy both, and you can observe Both!!

---

The following URL is to go to our website.
https://sites.google.com/site/kyotoayadogion/
The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in a historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains to everywhere. 
Please contact us by the form, if you'd like to book our hostel.

Contact

Nijo castle(二条城）

Nijo castle was built in the early seventeenth century as a temporary Kyoto residence for the first Tokugawa Shogun(徳川将軍）.
The surface area of the castle is 275,000 square meters, of which 8,000 square meters is occupied by building.
It's very huge, isn't it?
Are you worried about getting lost there?
But no worries!! There are many maps tell you where you are in the castle.
So i think you will not get lost there.

On the above picture is Ninomaru Palace(二の丸御殿）of Nijo castle.
One of the most striking features of them are "nightingale floors" in corridors.
It is to protect the occupants from sneak attacks and assassins, the builders constructed the floors of the corridors in such a way as to squeak like birds when anyone walk on them.
It's very unique, isn't it?
When you go to Nijo castle, try to walk them.
You will have fun!!

It take 20 mins by bus from A-yado to Nijo castle.
If you want to know more detail about it, please ask our staff when you check in.

---

The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

Osaka castle(大阪城）

Do you know what castle n the picture is?
If you know about that, you will be a Japanese watcher.

The answer is Osaka castle(大阪城).
It is one of the most famous castles in Japan and the symbol of Osaka.

It was built in the end of the 16th century by the Japanese leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi(豊臣秀吉）. But it has been burned down in the series of battles in the 17th century, and reconstructed later. Once again it was destroyed by fire and was reconstructed at last early in the 20th century. So it has been reconstructed 2 times.

If you are interested in history of Japan, you should go there.
Also i recommend you to go there in spring.
Because there is a park nearby and beautiful cherry blossoms can be seen.

It take only 1 hour by train from our hostel.
So you can enjoy a day trip!!

---

The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

Special sculpture of Buddha, which is always wet

I found a sculpture in Kiyomizu-dera temple(清水寺, きよみずでら). It was in a kind of cage and always wet.

Because of the water pipe made from bamboo. I was wondering that it has meaning or not. I guess it has, because the history of Japan made it. The history has the meaning in it all the time. Including daily things like a name of town or street, there are deep meaning according to the history. 

And I read a book and search on the internet. But, there is no answer. I just learned there're some kinds of sculptures of Buddha, and some of them have specified hand(s). For example, Buddha with 1000 hands, it can help so many people by the hands. Hands stand for the symbol of help. 

It's written "Wet hand Buddha"

It's called wet hand Buddha. I guess wet hands can help many people. Because if your hands are wet, and you touch, for example, wheat, it clings damply to your hands. If the hands of Buddha are wet, it clings to people, who need help. Perhaps, That's the reason of why it is wet.

It's one of the explanation. I'm not a specialist on history. But, thinking about the reason of strange things, I will come to know the history of Kyoto and Japan. They're very interesting!

---

The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

Yakushima(屋久島）

Have you been to Yakushima(屋久島） in Japan?

One of our staff went there and bought us nice sweet.
Yakushima is located on the southern coast  of Kyushu(九州） and part of Kagoshima(鹿児島）.
More than 75% of Yakushima is covered with thickly forested mountains that contain some of Japan's oldest living trees.
Trees more than 1000 years old are called Yakusugi(屋久杉) and the most ancient of which may be over 7000 years old.

It's amazing, isn't it?

Most tourists come to this island to hike through the forests and see the ancient trees.
Also Yakushima has been a natural World Heritage Site since 1993.

It's one of Japan's most remarkable travel destinations.

Would you like to feel going there now?
If so, you must go there!!

---

The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

An artificial river in old temple in Kyoto, Nanzen-ji temple

Hi, hi :) I wrote the article about Nanzen-ji temple in Kyoto before. And it was halfway. I'm not a liar. I should write the rest of it.

I wrote "What is this?" about the photo above in that article. Yeah, it's a difficult question. It looks like a tunnel or the series of gateways. 

The answer is that! It's a bridge in fact. You may think "Why is a bridge in a temple?". Well, it's a little bit strange, but has a reason.

On the bridge there's a water way for an artificial river from another prefecture, Shiga(滋賀), which is next to Kyoto. When a civil engineer, Sakuro Tanabe was directed to set up an artificial river connected to Biwa-ko lake(琵琶湖, びわこ) in Shiga prefecture. He chose the best course. On the way from Biwa late to Kamo river(鴨川), there was a very famous temple. Yes, that is Nanzen-ji temple. That's why this temple has a very big water bridge. Sakuro Tanabe is not very famous. You may not find good amount of information of his works on the internet in English or books. But, I'm sure he was a genius. Watch the photo below.

 Passing under the bridge, going up stairs, you will get to the gate way of the temple's building. They are completely harmonious. I love it! Those kind of harmony is a very important part of civil engineering, right?

Nanzen-ji temple was build about 800 years ago, and the water bridge was set up about 100 year s ago. Both are old. You see another harmony, which is belonging to the streaming of time passage. .

---

The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net