I took the bullet train from Fukuoka to Kyoto to celebrate Christmas. Jess had been in Osaka the week before so she met me at the train station. We rented a room a few hundred meters from the
Kiyomizu-dera temple (pure water temple), which ended up being my favorite temple in the city. It is also one of the most famous shrines in the world.
At each temple or shrine there are
calligraphers in little huts. It's a Japanese custom when traveling to carry around a small, blank book. For about $3, they stamp the temple's symbol and personalize it with it's unique prayer and the date in Japanese
calligraphy. It's like an autograph book but for temples.
This is one of the main shrines. A natural spring runs off of the mountain and into a little pond. As the water falls, you scoop it up with a tin cup attached to a bamboo pole and then drink the water as you say a prayer.
Still at the
Kiyomizu-dera near one of the many mini-shrines.
The
lovestones are set 18 meters apart. You are supposed to touch the stone, close your eyes, and then try and walk to the other stone. If you can touch the other stone without looking, you are rewarded by finding true love. Usually, however, you end up crashing into piles of Japanese people.
Most of the shrines have some kind of action you are supposed to perform... whether it be drinking something, ringing a bell, throwing a coin, rubbing an stone, lighting a candle... It's a cultural way of solidifying the prayer or wish that they make. I like it because each shrine has it's own unique ritual and people seem to often go back to the ones that mean something to them personally.
One of the stairways leading up to the main temple.
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