Temple Town

This has been an amazing couple of days. So much so that I don’t even know how to begin, but I suppose sticking to chronological order would make sense. Because I didn’t have school on Wednesday due to testing, Mama Akane taught me how to use the bus system in Kawachinagano. There is a bus stop right outside the house and Mitsuki and Nanako get on there every day. We took the bus into town. It took about 40 minutes to get to the station, which is 15 to 20 minutes longer than driving. Kawachinagano Station is a thriving place. It is the central hub for all city buses, taxis, and trains. There is also a multi-story shopping center nearby as well as pedestrian-only streets that are covered in case of rain.

We spent the afternoon browsing through the stores which involved stopping at the Kawachinagano Visitor Center. There, I got my first map of the city. What a big help! I’ve been very confused as to the layout of everything since there is no set grid for streets (not that it would even be feasible with how many steep hills there are). In all of the stores, there were various cartoon characters covering all of the merchandise including Hello Kitty, One Piece, Miffy, Sesame Street, and Moomin.

When we returned home, it began to pour outside. It was nuts! It rained very heavily for about half an hour and then slowed down to a drizzle. Here are some pics from it.

When we went to walk Ringo and Ryu later that evening, the sky was a brilliant orange color. It was beautiful! Of course, the camera came along so y’all can see what it was like.

The next day I didn’t have school either because of testing. Mama Akane and I went to see Kanshin-ji Temple. It is the most famous temple in Kawachinagano-shi. Because it was a week day, there was nobody else there. All of the pathways were smooth gravel that had been raked recently enough that the lines were still visible.

 Before visiting the main building, we cleansed our hands and mouth from a basin located next to the stairs.

 In front of the main building there is a small pit with a candle and incense that you can burn for the luck of others. I chose one that will help friends entering college, so those grades better be good! Inside the first building was an area for tea ceremonies that was blocked off to the public. It was full of very intricate designs and shiny things. 

The whole place had a very calming effect on me. We walked around and visited various spots on the grounds, including walking the 88 steps that represent all of the sins in life from the perspective of Buddhism. We walked back to the entrance and fed the extremely large carp that were in a pond. We also met a overly friendly cat that followed us for the rest our visit. When we climbed up the mountain that the temple was built on to visit the cemetery for part of an Emperor’s family, the cat came too! I even carried it all the way to the top so it would quite it’s whining! Kanshin-ji Temple is a very cool place and I definitely want to return before my year is up.

Apparently snails really love rain because tons of them were out at the temple. They were HUGE!!!

Friday was an especially good day. I went to school but left after three periods to attend the Rotary Club meeting. We had bento for lunch. Yum!!! When I returned to school I mostly worked on studying Japanese through my other classes. I don’t think the teachers minded because I was just practicing writing characters over and over again. After school, I went to talk to the band director about joining the club. Ron (the Australian that has been going to school here for a couple years but is of Japanese decent) came with me to help me figure out scheduling. I’m not very interested in participating in a club on the weekends so I can have time to do other things like travel with my family or participate in Rotary activities. I also want to try and join the soft tennis club, but doing two clubs is pretty much unheard of. Lucky for me, I had played with the band a couple times last week to see if I wanted to join. This gave the band an idea of my playing, so when the band director said I would have to try out, the older students immediately told her that it was unnecessary because I was good enough. Thank goodness! I’m am so grateful to them for this. What this does mean is that I will have to prove that I can actually play well enough. Nagano High School’s school festival is next Saturday and the band is performing. Yup, that includes me. Yay!!! I’m so excited to perform with them! It will be such an experience to play with such a talented wind orchestra!

After club, Mama Akane took Nanako and I to Aikidou (Mitsuki fell asleep in the car). Aikidou is very tiring but fun and rewarding. I come out of every session feeling like I’ve been punched all over because of how demanding it is. I’m very impressed by the stamina of the small children the participate!

Saturday, Mama Akane, Papa Kazuhiro, Yoshino, Nanako, Mitsuki, and I piled into the car and drove to Kyoto. On the way, we past a very large tower that is apparently part of some religion. I’m still trying to figure out what the religion is and I will keep you all updated on my findings. If anyone has information on it, I would love to here about it. The name was PL (Perfect Liberty).

The highway to Kyoto was interesting. It had walls on both sides to keep the noise down in the surrounding neighborhoods. This isn’t that unusual I suppose, but the walls were glass the entire way. It was nice to be able to see what you were driving past.

When we got to Kyoto, we went to Mama Akane’s parents house. Mama Akane grew up in Kyoto and her sister and parents still live there. We had sushi, sashimi, fried veggies, tea, and giant grapes for lunch. Afterwards, we left to go visit Kinkaku-ji Temple, which is the most famous temple in Japan. The afternoon was rainy, but that didn’t seem to stop tour buses full of people from joining us. There were many Japanese tourists, but there were also Korean, Chinese, American, and French. 

The temple was stunning. It was originally built as the house for a statesman, but it was eventually converted into a temple. The main  pavilion is the centerpiece for the entire temple. It is three stories tall with the upper two stories covered in gold on the outside.

 Each floor is designed resemble a certain section of the Muromachi-period. In front of the temple is a lake with small islands with very carefully trimmed trees grow. It’s an amazing place, although there is not a lot of liberty one can take in exploring on their own, as there is a strict path with fences on either side. There are small streams running everywhere and the path is mostly made from small smooth stones or large stone steps. Also along the path are a couple shrine-like stone structures with a stone cup in the middle. If a person can toss a coin into the stone cup, he or she receives good luck. There are many gift shops lining the path all of which sell different things relating to the temple. One sells small charms and good luck prayers. Others sell small bags, key-chains, postcards, books (English and Japanese), and, on the more expensive end, masks used for various celebrations. There are also numerous vending machines which is very common for Japan. They sold many types of beverages and ice cream. I’ve been told that in the winter there are vending machines that sell hot soup. Yum!!! Another cool thing about the temple’s garden is that all of the larger stones were donated by provincial lords during the time that it was built.

Visiting Kinkaku-ji Temple was fantastic. I love seeing the historic buildings and gardens in Japan. The Japanese are very aware of garden aesthetics and have a balance of letting nature do it’s own thing while gently coaxing it to take a certain shape.

So far my exchange has been incredible. I don’t know what I would do without all of the wonderful people that have helped me see and do different things in Japan. I am so grateful that the RYE program exists and I am looking forward to helping with it in the future.

BTW, I suppose I should mention that my host grandma and grandpa will be taking me to climb Mount Fuji in November. I am sooooooooooooooooooooooo excited!!!!