This week so far hasn't been as eventful as last week. Both Monday and Tuesday we had no organized field trips, so we didn't do a whole lot. We mainly did homework. Wednesday, we did stop by the local shrine--which happens to be a UNESCO site called Shimogamo Shrine--to catch a bit of a festival, the Aoi (or hollyhock) Matsuri (or festival). I forgot my camera that day, so no pictures, but we actually couldn't see much of it. We were too impatient to wait for the procession to leave the shrine, but we did catch a few men dressed in the Heian imperial style riding horses. Apparently, horses are quite the luxury in Japan. Most people haven't seen one.
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| According to Google, this is an example of average everyday clothing for men in the Heian Period |
We got tired of the horses pretty quickly, since we were crouching down behind the cloth background and peeking out from under it. We decided to move on to see Nijo Palace.
Originally, this was constructed by the early Tokugawa shoguns as a show of power. They had moved the political capital of Japan to Edo, which would later be known as Tokyo, but Kyoto continued to be the seat of imperial power. So Tokugawa Ieyasu used this fortification as a way to establish his dominance and justification to power. Again, I didn't have my camera, so I'll have to get the pictures the others took. But I'll say this--it's super cool. The palace actually doesn't allow photos or any kind of images rendered of the inside, but we took plenty around the palace of the beautiful gardens. The coolest thing was the floor. The wooden floor was made of huge planks of wood that were fashioned in such a way that they would squeak every so slightly, so no intruder could walk through without alerting the inhabitants. The floor is called the Nightingale Floor because the squeaking sounds like the chirping of a thousand little birds.
After Nijo, a couple of us went to the Kyoto shopping district that runs the length of a major avenue called Shijo. We were basically window shopping, but we found some great stuff. And by that I mean, we found some stuff we would totally buy if we had the money, and some other stuff we would totally burn if we were above the law. It was way fun.
Today, we took an extra long trip out to Nara. It's about an hour train-ride from Kyoto, but it's so worth it. Nara was the ancient capital of Japan before Kyoto, back when the process of Sinofication was still going on. As a result, Nara looks much more Chinese than Kyoto, which took on a much more distinctly Japanese look. Thankfully, I did not forget my camera today!
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| This is the five-story pagoda at Nara. This structure is more directly Chinese, as indicated by the turned-up eaves |
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| Another Chinese-y looking building |
Nara is home to the world's oldest wooden buildings, of which the pagoda is one. It is also home to a HUGE Buddha statue housed inside another super-old wooden temple.
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| This is the giant Buddha statue. Just to give you some perspective on his size, there is a column behind this structure with a hole cut out of the base, through which a small human behind can fit. Many do. They line up, and do everything they can to get through. It's supposed to be good luck, or get you salvation or something. This hole is the size of Buddha's nostril. |
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| My friend Anna, crawling her way to salvation |
The buildings are way pretty, and Buddha is super neat, but the real draw to Nara is the deer.
These little cuties are EVERYWHERE, and they're tame. You can buy them some little grain biscuits for ¥150, and these little guys go crazy for them. They wait patiently for you to hand them out, and by "patiently" I mean that they follow you around quietly until you feed them. They can smell from at least a couple of feet away if you have food or not. Those who do, end up surrounded...
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| "It's like they were... organized!" |
Those who don't, get no attention at all. However, the deer have learned how to work or their food. If you bow to them, they will bow back. Observe my friend Derek demonstrating this:
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| Step 1: Pick your deer and carefully approach it |
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| Step 2: Bow respectfully and await its judgment |
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| Step 3: Wait patiently as it bows in return |
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| Step 4: Provide the tacitly promised bribe for the show of deference |
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| Step 5: Rinse, lather, repeat |
Of course, the day wouldn't be totally complete without being bombarded by Japanese students. Not only did we get stopped for a little EiKaiwa (English conversation), but we we assaulted with little chougakusei (elementary students) shouting "Hello!" at us. It was the more adorable thing ever.
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| Walking up the steps out of the subway, we met the kids all boarding to leave, and after one brave soul greeted us and got a greeting back, soon every one of these kids was vying for their chance to say hello to the foreigners. It was like being hit in the face by a sonic wave. |
One last little note for my mom--I wanted so badly to buy this little stuffed Snoopy that was holding the deer snacks while I was in Nara! He was so adorable, but I didn't have enough cash on me to buy him and then get home :'(
