Nara. This is the site of the first permenant capital of Japan (apparently before this, the capital rotated with each emporor, it was bad luck or karma or something for a new emporor to reign from where the last one had died). Only 45 minutes away, and pretty cool if you ask me.
Once out of the train station (have I mentioned yet how good the public transit is here?), we were gretted with this monk guy next to the fountain.
There's a large park that contains most (but not all) of the many Buhddist temples and shrines that make Nara a tourist spot,, we stayed there for most of the day. That was odd, actualy. The strange mix of observer and devout,, they were functional temples, with several people there praying to,, well whatever it is buhddists pray to. Like this couple here. And right next to them, there were crowds of turists there to take photos,, a rather strange atmosphere. I wonder if some of the Cathedrals of Europe are like this,, there are several people in my lab here that traveled to cathedrals to basicaly do the tourist thing I did yesterday,, but I digress.
There were some truely amazing wooden structures here. These things were huge, and not a single piece of stone in them. The main temple is the largest standing wooden structure in the world, and it's only two thirds it's origional size (it burned down in 1634 or something like that).
However, there's an interesting point- a replica of Buddha's nose. They put a hole in one of the pillars supporting the structure about the same size as the big guy's nostril, and if you can fit through it, it's supposed to mean something. I don't know what that something is, but to translate for people that might not be cometitive to a fault- "you can fit through his nose if your not a failure as a human being". Now most of the people going through were about 25 months old,, but hey, what's wrong with a 25 year old? Nothing I say!
Unfortunatly I went through the thing too quickly for clare to get a good photo with my camera, but there's digital proof on either her camera or tims,, I'll get a hold of it when I can (admittedly, I was so frightened that I wouldn't fit that I kind of flew through the thing. There was much flailing involved).
There was alot to see at the park though, and quite a few deer to feed (they let them roam the park, and sell little packs of buscuits to feed them for 150 yen). I'll end this entry with a few more shots of the park. In other news, I can't get the spellchecker to work for the life of me,, I apologize for any gramatical butchery.
Once out of the train station (have I mentioned yet how good the public transit is here?), we were gretted with this monk guy next to the fountain.
There's a large park that contains most (but not all) of the many Buhddist temples and shrines that make Nara a tourist spot,, we stayed there for most of the day. That was odd, actualy. The strange mix of observer and devout,, they were functional temples, with several people there praying to,, well whatever it is buhddists pray to. Like this couple here. And right next to them, there were crowds of turists there to take photos,, a rather strange atmosphere. I wonder if some of the Cathedrals of Europe are like this,, there are several people in my lab here that traveled to cathedrals to basicaly do the tourist thing I did yesterday,, but I digress.
There were some truely amazing wooden structures here. These things were huge, and not a single piece of stone in them. The main temple is the largest standing wooden structure in the world, and it's only two thirds it's origional size (it burned down in 1634 or something like that).
Inside is Buddha. A big Buddha . I mean like a big huge ginormous could beat up King Kong Buddha. Unfortunatly in the main temple where it is housed (there's a reason it's the largest wooden structure in existance, you know?) had fairly poor lighting, so none of my pictures really do the thing justice.
However, there's an interesting point- a replica of Buddha's nose. They put a hole in one of the pillars supporting the structure about the same size as the big guy's nostril, and if you can fit through it, it's supposed to mean something. I don't know what that something is, but to translate for people that might not be cometitive to a fault- "you can fit through his nose if your not a failure as a human being". Now most of the people going through were about 25 months old,, but hey, what's wrong with a 25 year old? Nothing I say!
Unfortunatly I went through the thing too quickly for clare to get a good photo with my camera, but there's digital proof on either her camera or tims,, I'll get a hold of it when I can (admittedly, I was so frightened that I wouldn't fit that I kind of flew through the thing. There was much flailing involved).
There was alot to see at the park though, and quite a few deer to feed (they let them roam the park, and sell little packs of buscuits to feed them for 150 yen). I'll end this entry with a few more shots of the park. In other news, I can't get the spellchecker to work for the life of me,, I apologize for any gramatical butchery.
posted by joey at 5:03 AM
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