Aoi Matsuri and Lost in Transition

I wanted to see the Aoi Matsuri. It happens only once a year in one place and involves both Kyoto and the Heian Age. I swore to myself that I would go, even if I had to skip afternoon classes (nothing will ever allow me to skip my Japanese classes--I'll miss so much if I even skip one class!).

So I went.

I managed to have the best timing ever, exiting the station right as the parade was passing. There was a huge turn out--the thinnest part of the crowd was four people thick! It was also super sunny and I swear I could see people steaming--I can only imagine what the parade participants were feeling!

Since I arrived when the parade arrived, I was at the back of the crowd and at a disadvantaged place for photos. I tried my best though, even if I ended up with an inordinate amount of photos of the back of random strangers' heads.

So many people

Look at that awesome hat

And the birds of prey were circling as usual

What's this coming down the lane?

Beautiful women with sunshade!

Some important lady in a palanquin?

And now, women on horses!

LOOK. AT. HER. ROBES. Aren't they gorgeous?

This is the main woman of the show--the princess--wrapped up in 12 layers of kimono. She must have been dying inside, but you couldn't tell by her face. She's the main hero of the shrine ceremony as well.

After the parade headed to the shrine where htey would preform the ceremony, I meandered after. I didn't see anything (there were too many people), so instead I walked around the perimeter of the shrine and listened to the sounds of the flutes and the gongs.

I may have gotten lost, but I hold fast to the philosophy of "You're not lost until you're late" so I had a pleasant time.

I love Kyoto

And look at what is inscribed upon the walls of the train station

Look familiar?

I was schediuled to meet Sara (of A Tale of Two Sarahs fame), but there was a snafu involving wrong trains, dead cell phones, and confusing Japanese that led me to going to an exhibit on Heian Japan at the Kyoto National Museum alone. I decided to go to the exhibit because a) I love the Heian Age and b) Okaasan's parents gave me two tickets for free They've been doing htis for a while (I think they're members and getting this as a part of their member package or something), and I'm very grateful towards them. Anyway, the exhibit was a nice, if not a bit boring towards the beginning, and I headed back to the train station where I was run down by Sarah who had been waiting to apologize for being late (while I frantically apologized for not waiting longer). Thus we rode the train home together and then went and made purikura to document our story.

Afternoon at the (old) Capitol

So, I started off this day with brave intentions to see the Aoi Matsuri (Hollyhock Festival)--a giant parade where people dress up in Heian clothing (my favorite period of Japanese history) and go do a ritual festival associated with hollyhock leaves which are supposed to provide protection against lightning, earthquakes and provide easy childbirth, to name a few.

Well, Jaimes and I were all pumped up for it, only to emerge shocked adn disappointed when we learned it had been rescheduled due to rain.  

FESTIVAL FAILURE.

So we decided to wander around Kyoto instead.

We had a moment of great insight with the local sparrows as we fed them crunched crackers.

And then it fed it to its baby

HOW CUTE.

And some hawks as well. How many can you count?

Then we wandered for a while in Gion-Shijo, went to an arcade, did purikura, and then headed home.

Byodoin with the Family

So today I got up bright and bushy-tailed for one of the final installments in my "Travel Japan" Plan (you see, I only have sixteen days left in Japan, yikes!)--a trip to the famed temple, Byodoin.

Byodoin is certainly famous--its likeness is on the back of the ten yen coin and the phoenixes that adorn its roof turn up on the back of the 10,000 yen bill.

It's also one of the only pieces of Heian architecture to survive to this day without major upkeep. Originally Byodoin was Fujiwara Michinaga's (the guy who was basically the "man behind the curtain for all of court life) retirement villa and when his son Yorimichi inherited it, he converted it into a temple for Jodo (Amida's Pure Land) Buddhism. Jodo Buddhism oversimplified is that if you pray to Amida Buddha, you will be taken to heaven and away from this worldly hell when you die. This temple was designed to look like Amida's Pure Land (also known as "Amida's Paradise"). Hence, the giant lotus pond (said to be the main landmark in Amida's Pure Land) and the fact that it faces the East (so that when you're facing the hall, you're facing West, the direction that Buddha comes from).

The translation of "Byodoin" is actually "Phoenix Hall" and not just because of the giant metal birds on the roof! The entire layout is supposed to look like a phoenix with two wings and a tail. The "wings" are not actually connected to the "body" so when you go explore them, you have to walk out of the main hall and physically enter them yourself. The "tail" is used for storage. The main "body" houses a giant, glistening Buddha decked out in gold leaf and absolutely spectacular when the light hits him a certain way.

Red = Body, Blue = Wings, Yellow = Tail

On this journey,  Ojiisan (Okaasan's father) accompanied us. He gave me very useful tips on how to take pictures (though most of the Japanese went over my head) and was very nice.

Shot of the giant wisteria trees in front of Byodoin

After visiting Byodoin, we had lunch, starting with delicious steamed eel sushi and following that with kitsune soba!

Wrapped with the offshoots of baby bamboo

YUMMY!

Ochasoba--soba noodles made with green tea

Hina enjoys green tea dango

Hina had woken up on the wrong side of the bed--several times throughout the day she told me, Okaasan, and Otousan that she hated us.

See her cranky face?

Her mood changed though as we took a scenic river boat ride up and down the river. It was soothing and nice, but I forgot my favorite pen on the boat and didn't realize it until we had returned home. That was a little depressing.

Otousan with a dragonfly on his hand

But then we got ice cream and it was delicious!