I mentioned that we were staying in a place that Margaret found via AirBnB. There were two rooms, one up (ours) and another down (M&M's) in this building. It was very conveniently located directly across the street from a train station stop, and there were also bus and taxi stops at that same spot. So, it really made it easy for us to get out and about while in Kyoto. The two rooms were nestled in among a few businesses and other apartments. You can see other residences in the back. Lots of homes in cities in Japan were small and multiple occupancy like these and frequently had businesses nearby.
The major train stations that we experienced in Kyoto and Tokyo were bustling, vibrant places. All had shopping and dining available, and they were clean and very modern. Trains, as I've previously noted, were easy to use, ran on time, and were affordable. (We found the bus system in Kyoto similarly easy to use.) Seeing how successful these Japanese rail systems are (both intracity and inter-city) really drew our attention to how awful U.S. rail passenger service is. High speed intercity rail service could be a real boon for our country, but I'm sure our automotive and airline industries and companies would lobby against that. Our rail freight systems have such strong control over our existing rail infrastructure, that Amtrak can barely operate, and Congress seems uninterested in helping with a funding plan to establish a viable rail operation. By the way, in Japan, it is usually faster to take high speed rail between cities than to travel by air, when all factors are taken into account. Comparably or less expensive as well!
Japanese rail stations involve interesting, fascinating, modern architecture.
We took a tour to Nara, south of Kyoto to see the Todai-ji Temple and Kasuga-taisha Shrine. Our guide was a lively, often comical individual. His English, as well as that of many of the other guides we had during our trip, was reasonably good.
The gate into the Todai-ji Temple grounds is massive. This Buddhist temple is one of the so-called Seven Great Temples located in Nara. This one is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Once you enter the gate, you can look to the left and right to see two large statues symbolizing birth and death and guarding the entrance. Each was modeled from wood and stood perhaps 30 feet tall. Today they are protected by screens.
The temple itself is beyond the gate, and we were told that it is the third restoration following fires and other damage. Dating back to the early 700s, the temple is said to be the among the largest all-wood structures in the world. It was massive and is still evidently 30% smaller than the original.
The Great Buddha that sits just inside is over 50 feet tall and made of bronze. To see it, once having stepped inside, is an awesome experience.
An additional large Bhudda sits nearby.
Next, we visited the Kasuga-taisha Shinto shrine. Among other things, this shrine houses and is surrounded by over 2,000 lanterns (bronze and stone). Also, the path to the shrine is in a deer park where over 1,000 sacred deer roam freely (begging for handouts from we tourists). Nearby, was a display of sake barrels.
A major attraction on the grounds of this shrine are the wisteria blossoms at this time of year.
No comments:
Post a Comment