Kyoto, day 5

1st kanji: "kyoo"=capital 2nd kanji: "too"=capital

say: Kyo-toe (not Key-yo-toe)

Jeremy and I arrived in Kyoto on the night of December 28th, and headed straight for our ryokan. (say: rio-khan)  A ryokan is a Japanese-style inn, so we slept on futons on a tatami-mat floor.

Nishi Hongan-ji

This temple was near our ryokan, so we checked it out on our last day in Kyoto.  The main gate is to the left, and the hondo and worship hall are (respectively) on the right. Not many people visiting here... nice and quiet!

Almost all temples have a small 'fountain' where you wash your hands before you worship, to purify yourself.  Higashi-Hongan-ji's fountain had a beautiful dragon sculpture on it. (:

And this is the hair rope.  Seriously.  It's made of human hair.  A plaque nearby reads: "The Hair Rope:  This is one of many ropes, specially made of the hair of followers who wished for the success of the hall's construction in 1895.  As normal rope, at that time, was of very low quality, hair was prefered.  They were used for transporting and lifting the huge beams which you can see today in the main framework of these two halls. Length: 69m  Thickness: 30cm  Weight: 375kg"

Higashi Hongan-ji

A kind of 'sister' temple to Nishi Hongan-ji (above).  Nishi means 'west' and higashi is 'east'.  This temple was under renovations when we arrived!  How cool.  The hondo was 'enshrined' in a big metal

building!  (left)  To the right you can see some photos they had of the construction of the building that covers the hondo.  It was kinda neat. (:  But crappy that we didn't get to see the temple and stuff...

Hikone

Kyoto, day 4