Sumiyoshi Taisha...When Grand Had a Different Measure

2nd November, 2006 - We didn't have too many plans for Osaka... other than to gradually wind down from the amazing 12 days we spent in Kyōto. Osaka has not really held on to the architecture of it's past. There are a few exceptions to this, including the Sumiyoshi Grand Shrine - or more properly Sumiyoshi Taisha (note link is in Japanese only).

To get there, at least by train, you need to make at least one stop. Catching the subway line to Namba station, you then change over to the Nankai Main Line, and then about 10 mins later you get off at... well you guessed it... the Sumiyoshi Taisha Station. Be careful as express trains don't stop there.

View Larger Map

Approaching the shrine, you will come across a very small number of shops selling goods - where we bought some traditional bekkouame candy. It was surprisingly quiet (perhaps because it was a Thursday)... a distinct contrast to the subways in Osaka which even around 11am-ish were packed sardine tight).

The approach to the shrine passes under a stone torii, guarded by a pair of guardian komainu...lion dogs. A fairly understated entrance.

One of the things that sets Sumiyoshi Taisha apart from other shrines is the Taiko-bashi, the curved vermilion bridge that was famous even in the time of Murasaki Shikibu, who authored one of (if not) the first novels in the world, known as the Tale of Genji. 

Taiko Bashi with komainu

One of the things that surprised me was that you can actually cross the bridge... most other things like this that I've seen  are well and truly blocked off from real use. Here's T-chan... looking wistfully out, wondering what the future of parenthood had in store for us... either that, or she was wondering how we would cope when we stop walking between 10 and 20 km a day (thanks to our trusty pedometer, which we now had a love hate relationship with). I suspect relief would be the way she would describe it.

Taiko Bashi

Sumiyoshi Taisha is one of the oldest Shintō shrines still surviving today, dating from the 3rd century. There are four deities enshrined here: Uwatsutsuo-no-mikoto, Nakatsutsuo-no-mikoto, Sokotsutsuo-no-omikoto and Jingu-Kogo. The first three are known as sea gods, and are responsible for the protection of Japan (I am assuming from external invasion by sea, or Godzilla-style attack). You might be wondering (from the above map) why Sumiyoshi Taisha houses sea gods... well... the neighbourhood used to be on the coast before the massive land reclamation in Osaka. Clearly the gods didn't see that one coming....

The fourth spirit at the shrine is that of the Empress Jingū (who lived in the 3rd century AD, and according to Wikipedia made it to the ripe old age of 100)... actually, she was officially taken off the list of Japanese sovereigns during the Meiji era - perhaps due to her questionable historical accuracy (i.e. she may have been entirely fictional). That didn't stop her portrait being added to the Japanese currency in 1883 even though no picture of her existed (and  hence she took on a very Western appearance... perhaps as the artist responsible was an Italian). Needless to say, her status is somewhat mysterious... even though she was credited with leading the Japanese armies across the seas to successfully invade Korea. History is always so... malleable.

This shrine is unusual in that the architectural style can be said to be almost entirely predate Chinese influence (excepting the Taiko-bashi  which is very Chinese). Little else remains today in Osaka dating from that time. The honden (where the kami are housed) are in a particular style known as the Sumiyoshi-zukuri... one of three original (pre-Chinese) styles that have been retained in Japan. There are four of these honden, each dedicated to it's own kami. 

Not sure if this is typical - but the honden shown here are all numbered... not named... so the one on the left is #3...belonging to Uwatsutsuo-no-mikoto (you need to research that... they don't tell you).

 And here's #4 (the one on the right)....the home of Empress Jingū herself.

And here's a view looking through the doorway in the first honden (that belonging to Sokotsutsuo-no-omikoto)...behind the door lies the kami's house, and that's not for public viewing. As far as I know, there's no little light that comes on to indicate whether the gods in at the moment, so it might be a bit of hit and miss as far as communicating directly with the god. The bell out the front does however act somewhat like a door bell... so give it a ring, and say hello.

Interior entrance of honden

Here's the reverse view of the 3rd and 4th honden...which clearly shows the gabled design, crossed beams, raised floor, and thatched hinoki cypress bark roof

Shinto has a reverence for nature that is inextricably tied up with the concept of the spirits (kami) manifestation in the objects of the real world. That's why objects such as mountains, rivers, and even trees can become sacred. The shimenrwa (rope) identifies the boundary between the normal world and the sacred... just in case you missed it.

In this case, the aged tree looks unmistakably sacred...as if it has formed by pouring itself from some fissure in the Earth's crust...

And here we find another representation of the Sumiyoshi torii,,, which is actually quite a distinctive design unlike other in Japan.

Within one of the shrine's buildings we found this odd arrangement... complete with maneki neko (waving good luck cats). I have to admit that we kinda felt a little disappointed that in the heart of Shinto belief in the Kansai district, in the holiest of holies, we would find an almost cliche tourist shrine. Still...this shrine is famous for worship for the coming rice festival, and I understand that this sub-shrine is for that purpose.

Some of the smaller shrine buildings show an interesting fusion of the Japanese raised floor architecture with the Chinese influenced roof design. Haven't been able to work out what these buildings are for as they don't rate in the official shrine building list. I'm kinda hoping that they weren't toilets...

Every year on the 14th June, an ancient Shinto dance is held, known as Otaue-shinji, which accompanies a rice-planting ceremony – a prayer for good harvests in the coming year. Alas...6 months too late... or is that 6 months too early? Either way, it's a nice shrine that's worth visiting... and quite different from the Buddhist-centric view that is common in Kyōto.

Heian Jingu... See... Size Does Matter

31st October, 2006 - After a veritable feast on castles, gardens and bovine, T-chan and I returned to Kyōto for our 10th day in Kansai. This time we were going to hit the northern half of the Higashiyama temples... with a stopover in Heian Jingu. It's not hard to know when you've reached the shrine as its...er... well signposted. The shrine is approached through the giant vermillion torii, some 80 feet tall (~24m), and with a top spar some 111 feet (~34m) wide. Discreet is not a word I would use to describe it.

The Outen-mon... the shrine's main gate

Constructed in 1892 AD to celebrate the 1100th anniversary of the birth of Kyōto. The replica is dedicated to the first and last Emperor to reside in the city, Kammu and Komei (Emperor Meiji’s father) - the 50th and 121st ruler of Japan respectively. Both of their spirits are said to reside within the shrine. I'm not sure that's what you'd call a happy arrangement - but when accomodation's tight you make compromises...

Actually the original shrine was commemorated in 1895 with only Kammu enshrined - Komei had to wait until 1940 for his spirit to be enshrined - which coincided with the renovating of the shrine for the 2600th anniversary of the founding of Japan. It strikes me that this may have been a little opportunistic re-focusing of the shrine to meet more contemporaneous pressures in a highly nationalistic/militaristic Japanese state.

The Soryu-ro... or blue dragon tower

Heian Jingu is a 5/8th replica of the original Palace of the Hall of State (Daigoku-den). Why 5/8ths? Actually - depending on where you read it, it's 5/8ths, 2/3rds or 3/4ths scale.  Why - I can only think of lack of space. The shrine was originally going to sit on the original site (close to Nijo-jo), but was eventually located here. Either that - or they figured they'd shrink the shrine to make the torii look even bigger?...

One of two temizu-sho (hand washing basins)

As well as being a replica of the original Palace of State, Heian Jingu is also a working Shinto shrine. Within the Honden are enshrined the two spirits of Kammu and Komei, to which the people can pray at the Haiden building in front. The overall style of buildings is in the Chinese style, typical of the building style of that era. Attached to the shrine is a large stroll garden (designed in a similar style to that which would have been found in Heian times).

The Daigoku-den - or Hall of State

There are two trees on either side of the Daigoku-den, an orange-mandarin citrus tree (Ukon-no-Tachibana, not shown) at the west and a cherry tree (Sakon-no-Sakura, shown above) on the east. This arrangement is said to have been in the original design for the Imperial Court, and also features in the layout of the Girls or Doll Festival (hina-matsuri).

You can also find the same sorts of things as in any Shinto shrine. That includes omikuji, or fortune paper. The idea is that you buy a small token that contains a slip of paper... on which is recorded either directly or indirectly a fortune. There are about 12 basic fortunes for winning, ranging from pretty fantabulous to near-apocalyptic-tragic. The idea is if you were unlucky to draw a "bad fortune" don't sweat it... just tie the bad fortune paper to the supplied tree (or appropriate stand...) and your happy local god will sort out the whole issue for you. If you grab a "good fortune" however - take that home and keep it close to you.

Omikuji tied to trees

One theory goes that omikuji are the sources of the fortunes in fortune cookies - which are hypothesized to come from Japanese cookies sold in San Francisco. Hmmm... I'll leave that one alone.

Now we were just passing through here, on our way to the temples in the hills... so we didn't have much time to look around. Also, there's not much else to see here other than if you want to visit the gardens which (by all accounts) are very much worthwhile seeing if you've got the time. If you don't have time to stroll through the gardens you will find yourself very quickly wanting to move on to the next item on your itinerary. This is also the destination for the Festival of the Ages (Jidai Matsuri) on the 22nd of October each year. 

Kimomizu Dera pt 2 - There's Love in that thar Water

27th October, 2006 - There's a lot more to Kiyomizu Dera than my previous post. It's actually a huge complex of Buddhist and Shinto temples, shrines and even a cemetary where the monk Shinran is buried (the originator of the Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist sect). Above the temple complex sits Jishu-Jinja, a Shinto shrine now famous for vistors seeking true love. It was common to have Buddhist and Shinto places of worship co-existing together - a symbiotic relationship that came to an end during the Meiji Restoration. As with many of the Shinto temples, it is the home of several gods... indeed the mysterious god Susa-no-o supposedly has a home here as well - one time rival to Gods of Yamato. However, he is more closely associated with the Izumo region... so this might be his holiday house?

One of the more famous stories of the shrine is that to find true love you should walk (with eyes closed) between two stones (some 60 foot apart) whilst saying the name of the one you feel is your true love. Should you reach the other stone un-aided, then your love will be strong and true. Look around for the statue of "Okuninishino Mikoto"... the Japanese God of love... where you'll find the matching half of the "love stones". 

One of the somewhat folorn sights of the shrine is a large barrel of water, in which is slowly dissolving the paper on which is written the many hopes and dreams for love of those that come to Jishu-jinja. In some ways  it seems as if all those dreams are but transient whispers, lost to the waters of time... in other ways it's as if the Cosmos were adsorbing the words to become part of a greater thing.... I'm not sure what comes of the water. Perhaps it's best not to know, as romantic notions are so much easier to hold on to if the truth doesn't interupt.

And for those for whom the love stones don't quite work (or who need extra special help) there's no end of tokens to assist the truly love lost.

Moving back down to the Amida-do (where the Amida Buddha sits in golden radiance), you can continue around the mountain - till you eventually come to another three storied pagoda, Koyasu-no-tō, which is said hold the Goddess responsible for easy births. This was a sort of must see... given the somewhat growing state of T-chan's belly. This one looks as if it's seen better days.

Unfortunately when we arrived it looked very much closed... Hmmm... hopefully this wasn't an omen.

Somewhat disappointed, we made our way back to the temple proper. Below the temple proper sits Otowa no Taki (“sound of feathers waterfall”), the original source of Enchin’s pure water. Even today, visitors to the temple will queue to taste of the purifying water of Kiyomizu Dera. Ok... when you think of waterfalls, I'm sure that you conjure up something a little "grander" in your mind. Clearly there's something else to this waterfall that's sparks the imagination of all those dedicated visitors.

There's a lot of steps down... but then again - going down is the easy part.

Below - there's no doubt about what the attraction is. Sampling of the healing waters of  Otowa no Taki. It must be good. Or alcoholic. So huge are the queues that T-chan and I decided to give it a miss. We don't have the time, and T-chan's not feeling the best nowadays. Also - there's something decidedly un-hygienic about communal cups. Especially on the mass scale that's evident here. There are three streams, carefully directed, from which to choose from...

Supposedly if one stream is good... more is better... however, sample from all three and your greed will rebound upon you.

Now don't forget to throw in some coins to satisfy Fudo Myo-o, the God of the waterfall. Apparently he doesn't take too well to evil-doers, and the definition of evil-doer always seemed just a little too vague for my own liking.

Moving on from the waterfall, you can enjoy the gorgeous stonework of the temple grounds.

From below the temple's platform looks even more amazing. All of this is made without modern things such as nails, bolts, rivets. All held together by gravity, friction and good design. Of course it's also designed to flex and move. That's more or less a pre-requisite in Japan, home of the earthquake.

Back to where we started. It's definitely a good place to go in Kyōto. In some ways, it's not as impressive to my own view as the gardens of many of the other temples we've been to... and the crowds certainly make you feel like you're in a tourist attraction rather than a place of inner-tranquility. The real advantage to Kiyomizu Dera is that it's a good staging place for a lot of other things. For that reason, if you've only got a short time in Kyōto, it's more or less a must see.

Pontocho is Kyoto for Nightlife

26th October, 2006 - Having left Fushimi Inari Taisha, we took a quick train ride up to Pontochō... the first sight we were greeted with was the Minami-za Kabuki theatre. We'd enjoyed Kabuki back in Tokyo (way back in 2003 at the now closed Kabuki-za) - but no time for that today.

Pontochō is one of the traditional areas of Kyōto... known for it's traditional side-streets, restaurants, nightlife and shopping. To get there however, we cross over the river Kamogawa - on which banks much history had lived, and died, in the 1200+ years of the city. Many a person was executed on the shores of this river... certainly the river would not win too many awards for beauty.

We were searching around the streets of Pontochō for something to eat.... and admiring the small shops that you find in the streets and arcades.

The smaller canals of Kyōto are much more picturesque than the nearby river.

During a coffee break, I bone up a little more on the city. At some point I'll write about the books that I used, both in the preparation for our trip, and the research (such as it is) for this blog. Hmmm... I am starting to think that this holiday life has been a little too "comfortable"... for all the walking that we're doing, my belly seems to be getting a bit bigger each day. I'll blame it on being with a pregnant woman... of course I had to provide companionship as she was eating for two.

This is not your normal Colonel Sanders... this is Shinsengumi Sanders. The shinsengumi were made famous recently in an NHK drama series (each year NHK shows a long running historical Taiga drama)... they were an historical force predominantly made up of ronin samurai that had come together to form a protective force for the Shogunate at the end of the Edo Period. In the end they came to a gloriously grisly end - in fact, their final act (at least of one of the leaders, Hijikata Toshizo) was the stand-off with pro-Meiji restoration army in Hakodate, Hokkaido.

Whilst Kyōto is a modern Japanese city, one of the great things about it is that even in the midst of the shopping district, you can find small pockets of traditional Japan. We stumbled upon such a small shrine, Nishiki Tenmangu, snuggled in a little enclave of history in the popular Shinkyōgoku arcade.

It's a strange shrine... perhaps fitting for the area, there's a lot of fortunes to be found here. Including from mechanised fortune-telling machines (on the far left of this shot). There's a sense of light-hearted seriousness about this shrine.

I'm not even sure we should be down here... but...we found another little surprise down the side of the shrine...

A mini-mini-shrine. It's very cute really... but to be honest I don't know the significance (and T-chan didn't know either). If any one can provide some more information, it would be much appreciated.

We hadn't made specific plans for the evening meal, but instead enjoyed walking around the little streets... many of the restaurants were frankly too expensive for our already light wallets/purses. Also many restaurants in this area are also only by "invitation only"... someone needs to have recommended you to the restaurant.. thus politely excluding us dubious travellers from entering.

Another wonder of Kyōto is that whilst you're walking around at night, you see moments as fleeting as they are incongruous. Here two geisha head out for a night of entertainment. Kyōto is certainly famous for it's geisha, though there are only around a few hundred in all of Japan these days.

These were the first geisha that we had seen during our stay, and I have to say that it had an amazing effect on me... standing in front of me was a living, breathing part of history... part of the wonder that in Kyōto.

The canals also took on an extra attractive feel at night time. It's reasonably cool at night now as winter slowly approaches, and walking around the streets had that extra feeling of expectation.

T-chan and I find a small restaurant in Pontochō (also in the Lonely Planet guide)... called Fujino-ya... which is one of the more tourist friendly restaurants in the exclusive Pontochō area; it has the advantage of having a very nice view of the Kamogawa and the Minima-za down the river. The service could have been better for the price - and don't go in expecting a big meal. It was a fun night out however... and this is, after all, the home of kaiseki. The meal is simple and austere. It was a good end to the day (which had been fairly easy)... It was however going to be a busy day tomorrow...

But that's another day.