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! 

Golden Week - Part Four

Well, Golden Week is finishing up, and so we went to a farm today, by Hina’s request.

By entering the farm, I did not expect to be punched in the face by homesickness, but it happened nonetheless. I’ve been pretty good with homesickness (not really having it at all except for short bursts during the holidays and such) but I did not realize how much I missed being on the farm.

I may have sniffled when I saw this

The first, and most important, stop of the day was to see the donkeys. You could buy food and feed them. It was all very nostalgic—I used to have a goat, you see, and there is very little difference between a goat and a donkey’s manners, especially when it comes to food. It was kinda sad to see the small pen all of the animals were enclosed in, though, and even sadder to see that I was the only one attempting to pet the poor creatures instead of just throwing bread crusts at them (to be fair, these were extremely rude and violent donkeys, but still!). The entire (rather small for so many creatures) pen was covered in filth with nothing green in the court or the manger. Some of the poor donkeys were caked with their own filth and it saddened me. The rabbit cages were nicer, but I still am worrying about those unsheared sheep that were panting in corner.

Despite the rather pitiful cages of the sheep and donkeys, the rabbits' burrow looked pretty nice, if small

Then we went on a walk, where I nearly had tears over the smell of fresh dirt and greenery combined with the different bird and frog calls. It was very unnerving to see myself reduced as such, but the sun was shining, it was gorgeous weather, and I soon got over it.

Turtles!

The traditional Japanese farmhouse

This is "takenoko" or baby bamboo

CHICKENS!

And then we returned home and I did homework.

Golden Week - Part Two

Today we started out early, eating a delicious breakfast, taking more pictures, and checking out from the bungalow.

There were tadpoles!

Chieko, Kanna, Hina, Otousan, Okaasan, Me

Then we drove for a short while until we came upon a hiking path. Words cannot describe how gorgeous it was. Pictures pale in comparison as well. While it felt somewhat treacherous at times, the view was great and there were so many waterfalls!

The prettiest shade of blue water I've ever seen

Hey, Mom--a wild hosta!

Please pardon the choppiness, but I wanted to get the whole perspective in

After hiking, we went for a soak in another onsen which was nice, though I find it a pain that everyone worries about me because after soaking, I always look like I’m going to faint—this is because I have skin so pale it’s practically reflective which also turns pink rather quickly and makes me redder than a lobster in the summer if I forget to coat myself in sunscreen.

After that we went out to lunch and then headed back home while I promptly fell asleep in the car.

Sushi wrapped in persimmon leaf

Delicious