Inari Shrines and Magic Waterfalls

Fushimi-Inari Train Station

The first thing you see after you enter the shrine grounds.

You should wash your hands before you enter the grounds.

So Last week we went on a field trip to Kyoto, It was really fun, so full of history. We first went to the Fushimi-Inari Shrine. It's the one you see in films with the "hallways" of Tori Gates (the big red, wood gates) that just go on forever. It was soooo pretty! I never wanted to leave. 

Other than the Tori Gates (Tori means "Bird" in Japanese) the shrines are just filled with Fox (Inari) statues all over the place. Inari is the Shinto deity of rice and the harvest and is depicted as both male and female. This god(dess) is also believed to be able to take the shape of a fox, hence all the foxes around the shrines. (S)He also uses foxes as messengers, and they often play important roles in mythology. 

There are typically two everywhere you go. They line the walkways and doorways.

The shrines are sprawled up a mountainside and up to the summit. It takes over an hour and a half to make it to the top, my group did not have that much time, so we only made it about a half hour up. At that point there is a little lake. And while we were at the lake, there was a nice little old lady that was shocked that 1. We were a bunch of white kids going to school at Shitennoji University in Osaka, and 2. That there was a university in Osaka. She was so funny, and very nice. I have some video that I cannot post here, so if you are interested to see the lake and the old lady, or video of walking through the Tori gates, talk to me and I will show you. :) 

With this shrine, you were supposed to make a wish. Then stand before the large stone and imagine how heavy it is. Next, go pick up the stone: if it is lighter than your imagined it to be, your wish will come true. If it is heavier than you imagined, then you wish will not come true. I imagined the rock to be so heavy that I was crushed beneath it's weight, but when I picked it up I still struggled. So... wish granted?

Thousands of little shrines, and up up up they go. The lake was right behind those shrines at the top.

There is writing on most of the backsides of the Tori Gates (I am facing backwards), and they are the names of people who have generously donated to the shrine. There may be more, but we're not quite sure what else they say.

My roommate is going to return to the shrines after our program ends, and she's gonna hike to the top.  :) So I'm excited to take a look at her pictures, and see for myself what the rest of the shrine grounds look like.

What else do you expect me to do with a little tree stump sticking out of the ground?

A little tourist shop had a bunch of Daruma! 

After the Fushimi-Inari shrine, our group headed over to the Kiyomizudera Buddhist Temple, which is about a five minute train ride and a twenty minute walk away.

 The Temple has a waterfall that splits into three parts. It is said that each of the three waterfalls has a magical property. From left to right (looking onward) If you drink from the first waterfall, you will gain a strong, healthy body. If you drink from the second waterfall, you will gain intelligence. If you drink from the third waterfall, you will gain happiness.

We saw a lot of people dressed in traditional, summer Yukata. People like to dress up to go to special places, like the temple.

The story of the origin of the waterfalls.

Viewed from the back.

All different kinds of people come to drink.

When I had made my way to the waterfalls I had forgotten the order, so I actually didn't drink from the one I had previously intended. I ended up drinking from the first, the one in which you gain health and strength. I was told by someone (an idiot) that it was totally fine to drink from all three. But I thought to myself: "When has greed, in any form, ever been rewarded in any way? If you get greedy, something will happen to you, and you will become a moral/warning for everyone else." Upon my return, I was told that yes, drinking from all three would have been a horrible idea, and I felt vindicated. It was really fun to let everything go and believe in magic for a while. :)

These are Priestesses of the Shrines and Temples. They stand outside the grounds in one spot and pray silently. They dont move, they dont talk. They stand so that you will see them and think to give donations to the shrines and temples, but they dont beg. It's quite interesting. The above Priestess was at Fushimi-Inari, and the one below was at Kiyomizudera.

The Engrish Post!

Today is Engrish Post! I love Engrish so very much, that I felt inspired to make a post after a recent trip to the mall. Now, for the most part, there is a fair bit of research before people attempt to put English on a t-shirt. Most words are spelled correctly, and even sentences are oftentimes correct. But the devil is in the details, and English sentences are no exception. Even though the spelling is correct and the sentence structure is close, it's the nuances in the language that make things strange. This is the case for most Engrish shirts I find. But this post is not about those shirts. Those shirts are not worth my time or film. No, This post is about the "WTF were they trying to say?" shirts. And I found one perfect example, and actually, 90% of the shirts I am showing you are from one store. This tells me that the owner of this store does not believe in "Research".  I bring you: 

For the Prideful person in all of us.

I don't even know where to start.

Comes in multiple colors.

How did they know about my mom?

"Ok. I'll read one half, and you can read the other."

Ah, American Idioms. So close, yet so far.

Yes, this is printed across the crotch. Yes, this is my new Catchphrase!

My favorite part is the + in place of a t.

Because Canada is so well known for their Mattreses.

Kawaii!!

The Food Post

Ok, you guys, Today's post is about food. I'm still alive, which means that I have been consuming said food. But it's not extremely eventful, so I've skipped it in my previous posts. But not today, Bitches! Today you hear about the food!
So, lets start off with something that screams "traditional Japan" and that would be: "Tea Ceremony".
I attended an authentic Tea Ceremony with the Tea Ceremony Club on our school campus. It was really neat, cuz we were set up in a traditional house-looking floor on campus (I have no idea if that makes sense to you), and everyone was dressed up in traditional clothing (Yukata).

We were set up in a square formation and offered tea in a very polite, quiet, and intimidating atmosphere. I was the first to enter the room and the first to receive the tea, Therefore, I was also the first to screw up everything. But I was excused from it all on account of my being white.  We were fed a little cake, and then given the tea. When you receive the tea, you must bow to the person who presented it to you. You then pick up the bowl with your right hand, and place it in your left hand which acts like a plate. You then spin the bowl two times with your right hand. And then you are allowed to drink it. I didn't bow at first, but I was politely reminded by my company and every subsequent step was preceded by me looking around with "help me!" eyes.  But it was a lot of fun and it was a nice experience. After the ceremony itself was over, we were led into the next room to try making the tea ourselves. I thought the tea was delicious, not too bitter, just perfect. You don't add sugar, but it is good anyways.  What you do is you take a bitty little spoon, which is just a stick really, and you put one scoop of "Matcha" (finely powdered green tea) in the bowl. You then add one ladle-scoop of hot water to the bowl. You take a little bamboo whisk and quickly whisk/beat the matcha and water into tea. You need to do this fast enough to create a green foam on the top of the bowl. I couldn't get my wrist to go fast enough at first, but I received a quick lesson and then everyone commented on how quickly I improved. lol!

Myself making some tea. The Ladle is sitting on top of the water pot. The Small red container has the Matcha powder inside. The stick/spoon on top is what you use to scoop it with. And I am mixing the tea with the bamboo whisk.

This is my friend "Kilo" drinking the tea I made. Cuz you're not allowed to make your own tea. You can only make it for others.

And a couple of days ago I went to this little restaurant in nearby Fujiidera and on the menu I found "Marbled Horsemeat Sashimi". After I saw that I had to look no farther, for I had found my meal for the evening. It was fate. Nothing could keep me from my horsemeat.

It was delicious by the way. It is kinda like beef, but a lot smoother... and tastier. I loved it. I actually bought two, even though it was a little pricy. But it only came with 5 pieces, so...

Oh, and Sashimi means raw. Yes, I was eating raw horsemeat. And It's only been about a week since I had it, and I'm already craving it. And when I get home and drive past the horses around the corner, I'm no longer gonna thing "cute", but instead I will be thinking "Ooh, Yummy!".  Improvement?

And last week we went to a local Indian food restaurant. It serves curry and naan. I had both for the first time, and I loved it. I actually have never had Indian food of any kind before in my life, but this place was excellent. So, as of so far, I do like Indian food.

It's actually kindof funny, cuz the owner of the Indian restaurant we met at the airport on our first day in Japan, and then we ran into his restaurant which is in the same town we are living in, and we keep running into him just on the street and stuff. He's really nice and loves chatting with us. He's been living in Japan, and running his restaurant for over 20 years. He also speaks his Dialect of Indian, Japanese and English. So we have fun talking to him. Plus his food is just delightful.

And last night a group of us went out to a chicken restaurant, it is the same restaurant from my second post. But this time I was able to get some of the more exotic things on the menu. They include: Chicken necks (some cartilage included), and chicken hearts! It may sound gross, but I loved the taste and texture of hearts. Yes, I know I'm a little bit creepy.

I will tear out your throat!...

And eat your Heart for Breakfast!

Myself, "J", and "J". :)

And today, we went to a Conveyor Belt Sushi place. What happens is: you sit down at your table, and along the wall is a conveyor belt which brings little plates of sushi past your table. So if you see something you like, you can just pick it up and it's yours.

There is also a little interactive menu screen above the conveyor belt that you can order stuff from if you're not seeing what you want on the belt. The special orders are placed on an additional plate, so that other tables know not to pick it up.

The sushi is on different color plates, and the different color plates stand for different prices. So at the end of your meal you just count the number of plates you have, and that is what you pay. It's actually really cool. And because this is Japan, each plate of nigiri/sushi was only about $1.05. I ate my fill of nigiri for under $10. I love you, Japan.

This was what our table looked like after we were done.