Lovely Shrines

After a few days in Japan, you might get all shrined out. The graceful grandeur of a torii or the serenity of a temple garden no longer evoke the original sense of wonder. Out of the shrines and temples that I visited in my trip, the Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto and the Kasuga Taisha in Nara Park stand out in my memory as shining examples of serenity and beauty.


Fushimi Inari Taisha

Fushimi Inari Taisha is located just outside of JR Inari station in south Kyoto. It is the head shrine of all the thousands of Inari shrines all over Japan. Inari is a Shinto deity of rice. There are countless torii donated by companies and other well-wishers on the grounds of the shrine.


The torii are set in a wooded area and because I saw very few people while walking in the avenues of vivid vermilion, it felt emphatically surreal - almost as if I was in Miyazaki Hayao's Spirited Away.
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If we go down the wrong tunnel, will we enter another realm?
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Higgledy-piggledy
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A shrine of mini torii
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Rows of ema boards and bundles of pretty origami left by students prayers for good school results.
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Kasuga Taisha

Kasuga Grand Shrine was the family shrine of the Fujiwaras, a clan of political movers and shakers of the Nara and Heian periods in Japanese history. It's a very important shrine and like the Great Shrine of Ise, it used to be rebuilt ever 20 years according to Shinto practice of purification but that is no longer practiced.


The Kasuga Grand Shrine is famous for the thousands of ishidori (stone lanterns) that line its paths. They are lit twice a year - in early February and Obon in August.
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Howie feeds one of the many tame deer w/ a chika senbei (deer cracker). 150Y for a little bundle. Honor system.
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Holy boobies!
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More boobie boards a few steps away.
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