BEFORE THERE WAS AN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT NEAR NARITA CITY, MOST VISITORS WENT THERE TO SEE...
...SHINSHŌ-JI (940 C.E.), A MAJOR TEMPLE OF THE SHINGON SECT OF BUDDHISM.
NOW THE "IN-TRANSIT" FOLK WHILING AWAY A FEW HOURS MAY OUT NUMBER THE PILGRIMS COMING FOR MORE SPIRITUAL REASONS. THE MAIN GATE IS A HARBINGER OF THE SCALE OF THINGS TO COME. AND THE STAIRS AHEAD DESERVE A....
... A WARNING. CURIOUS IS THE CHOICE OF LANGUAGES: ENGLISH AND CHINESE.
NOT ONLY "WOULD BE STEEP", THEM STAIRS "IS STEEP"!
AND THE LANTERN AT THE TOP WOULD BE BIG.
TO ACCOMMODATE THE MANY VISITORS, THERE ARE VOLUNTEER GUIDES WITH MANY LANGUAGE SKILLS. KEIKO SAW THE SIGN AND ONE READILY AVAILABLE SPOKE JAPANESE. HOW NICE. AND HOW TERRIFIC. A RETIRED BANKER, WITH A PASSION FOR, BUT NOT A BELIEVER IN, BUDDHISM, HE HAS TRAVELLED ALL OVER CHINA COMPLEMENTING HIS STUDIES....LOOK AT THAT THICK "GUIDE'S NOTEBOOK" HE HAS ASSEMBLED!
NEEDLESS TO SAY HE KNEW THE PROPER ORDER OF VISITING...
NEEDLESS TO SAY HE KNEW THE PROPER ORDER OF VISITING...
...THE FIRST THING OF WHICH IS TO VISIT THE STUPA/PAGOTA. AND THIS ONE IS SUPERB.
BUILT IN 1712, IGNORING THE JAPANESE PREFERENCE FOR SUBTLE COLORS, IT REFLECTS THE ORIGINAL PALETTE OF COLORS FROM CHINA/KOREA.
AS WELL AS THE DETAIL OF CARVING.
NEXT TO IT IS ISSAUKYŌ-DŌ (NICE CALLIGRAPHY!), WHICH IS A ....
...A BUDDHIST SCRIPTURES HALL, WITH A ROTATING CABINET IN WHICH THE SCROLLS ARE KEPT.
NICE OGRE!
ALL AROUND THE BUILDINGS ARE LANDSCAPE ELEMENTS CHOCK-A-BLOCK WITH VOTIVE STONES, WITH THE DONOR'S NAME (AND THEIR DONATION AMOUNT) CARVED INTO THEM.
NOT SURPRISINGLY A POND HAS AN ASSEMBLAGE OF STONES MAKING A "TURTLE ISLAND" - TURTLES BEING A SYMBOL OF LONGEVITY - THIS ONE LEAVES LITTLE TO THE IMAGINATION. NOTE THE LIVE TURTLE AS WELL...
THE SHAKA-DŌ (1858) PREVIOUSLY THE MAIN HALL, IS NOW DEDICATED TO SHAKYAMUNI, AND IS VERY WELCOMING...
"... AND SAY HELLO TO SIDDHARTHA.
BUT ITS WHAT'S ON THE OUTSIDE THAT GETS THE ATTENTION: THE 500 ARHARTS...THE FIRST FOLLOWERS OF THE BUDDHA...ARE CARVED INTO WOODED PANELS SURROUNDING THE BUILDING.. CARVED BY RYOZAN MATSUMOTO IN EARLY 19TH CENT., IT TOOK HIM TEN YEARS TO COMPLETE THEM.
THERE HAS DEVELOPED A TRADITIONAL WAY TO REPRESENT THE 500, A FAVORITE BEING THIS FELLOW PETTING A DRAGON.
TWO RECENT BUILDINGS ARE THE IOU-DEN (2018) ON THE LEFT, AND THE GREAT PEACE PAGODA (1984) BUILT FOR THE 1,150 ANNIVERSARY OF THE TEMPLE'S FOUNDING. THEY SAY BUDDHISM IS DYING IN JAPAN, BUT SOME TEMPLES SEEM TO STILL BE DOING OK.
OFF BEHIND AND TO THE EAST OF THE TEMPLE COMPLEX IS NARITA PARK. IT HAS THIS SMALL EUROPEAN STYLE ELEMENT, BUT ....
..ITS JAPANESE STYLE GARDEN DOMINATES.
AS USUAL THE STONE LANTERNS WERE OF INTEREST. NOTE THE CURLICUES ON THE RIBS OF THE THE TOP OF THIS ONE. OFTEN SEEN THEY ARE OFTEN REFERRED TO AS "WARABI" (BRACKEN FIDDLEHEAD FERN) TIPS. STONE LANTERNS ARE JAPANESE DERIVATIVES OF CHINESE METAL ONES, WHICH DO NOT HAVE FERN TIPS, BUT DO HAVE....
... DRAGONS SPOUTING WATER! AH, IS THAT WHAT GOT LOST IN TRANSLATION? ALSO NOTE THE SIMPLIFICATION OF THE ETERNAL FLAME ON TOP OF THE PREVIOUS ONE, COMPARED TO THE ONE ON TOP OF THIS ONE.
WELL, CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WHO HAVE PERSEVERED TO THE END OF THIS JOURNEY. I HOPE YOU HAVE ENJOYED IT! 2019 PROMISES TO HAVE A JAPAN TRIP AS WELL...I AM ASSISTING A SMALL GROUP ON A 12 DAY TOUR IN MAY. INTERESTED IN JOINING? PLEASE SEND A CONTACT OFF THE HOME PAGE.
