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!