Naritasan -3-

-continued from the post "Naritasan -2-"-

I spent about one and half an hour at this temple. And I guess if you really want to see everything at this temple, you'd need more than 2 hours. This is one of the pics that I took on my way back. The left pond is where the tortoises were resting.

I think this is another Komainu that protects this temple. Foreign people would like this one since it had more colors than ordinary Komainu.

After walking about on the premises of the temple, I walked down the street in front of the temple to see what the local shops were selling.

My friend had informed me that this Naritasan was well-known for "Unagi" or eel. We often have it in the summer to make ourselves energized. But look at this price....2000 yen?? I wouldn't pay that much for lunch usually.

And it was around 11am when I finished seeing the temple, so I decided to just take a rest at this restaurant "Daikokuya".

This looked like a typical Japanese restaurant in rural areas. Such a restaurant usually has "Zashiki" where you should sit with your legs folded. I chose a table seat as I didn't want to take off my shoes.

Time to have the black thingy. According to what I learned on the net, coffee helps us burn some fat in our bodies. I've been on a diet as I told you before.

Did Naritasan make you interested? When it comes to Japanese things, I can see those only from a viewpoint of a Japanese.

Washoku Sato (A Japanese restaurant)

It has been so hot in Japan, and the average high in the past few weeks should be about 34 degrees Celsius. When it's September, it could get so hot during the day, but the temperature drops considerably in the night, so we normally wouldn't have to run the air conditioner in the night. But as in other countries, Japan is now experiencing the longest summer it has ever had. Btw, the meaning of "Washoku" is "Japanese food" FYI.

So, I wanted to have something cold....and Japanese. I haven't shown you Japanese food in a while, so it was time to introduce a new Japanese restaurant. This one is called "Washoku Sato" and Sato means a "hometown".

When it was so hot like this, nothing can stop me from ordering an iced coffee. This restaurant didn't have what we call a "drink bar", so I had just one glass of iced coffee. But the quality was very good. And you could have hot green tea for free as well.

And I had this "Ebiten Oroshi Udon". The bowl had fried shrimps and grated radish, and those were sitting on cold Udon. You need to pour soy-sauce-like seasoning in the cup all over the bowl. The price was 890 yen. The exchange rate of the yen against the dollar has been around 84 yen recently, so it was about 10.6 dollars.

I'm taller than ordinary Japanese men, so I often feel hungry without an additional dish. As you know this is Gyouza. But I had to admit the Gyouza of Oushou that I introduced in this post was much better.

I like the summer the best of the four seasons, but I'm now getting tired of this heat....>.<

Naritasan -2-

-continued from the previous posting-

Basically this temple is so vast that you'd get separated from your friends if you don't have a cellphone. But as you can see, the atmosphere is so tranquil that you'd feel peaceful. 

Found another dragon relief. As the anime "Dragonball" suggests, we associate dragons with China, so I often feel strange when I see some dragons at a temple.

This hearth was in front of a building "Koumyoudou", which housed three statues. The building is designated as a national treasure. If you want to pray, you're supposed to put some money in the box that has the lattice window. You can decide how much money you put in, and even 5 yen is enough.

This is called "Heiwa Daitou" or a big tower of peace. It is made of concrete, and it has amazingly huge statues that are painted colorfully. I wish I could show them, but people were prohibited from taking any pic of them. Please see it with your own eyes when you come here.

I saw a pair of a monkey and Buddha. I wish I could explain this, but no explanation was available. Just enjoy looking. 

Sometimes a temple has a shrine nearby, or side by side. This stairs lead to an "Inari shrine" where you could get the luck of getting promoted. 

And these foxes are called "Inari". The red cages should have been set up to protect them from robbery.

And this is the place where you're supposed to say a prayer to have a higher chance of promotion. Again, you're supposed to put some money in the box nearside.

Saying a prayer might be enough, but you'd need something to hold onto when you're away from this shrine, and these charms would do the trick. I think the bigger the charm is, the better. 

-to be continued-

Naritasan -1-

I went to the second most popular temple in Japan, which is called "Naritasan", alias "Shinshouji". It attracts about 3 million people around New Years when we pay the first visit. I'm not a Buddhist, but these days I'm really interested in the tradition of Japan, so I decided to see what this temple would look like.

Basically this temple is set up as a place for foreign tourists, so you can see many shops that are selling "Japanese" things. This area is so close to Narita Airport that many foreign people visit this temple on their way back from or to the airport.

It was about 35 degrees last Sunday, so it would have been nice to buy shaved ice at the shop that is hanging the flag with the red kanji. The red kanji means "Ice".

And this is the entrance to the temple. The right dog you see is called "Komainu", which is said to protect the temple itself. This gate is called "Soumon", and was constructed in '06.

People were taking pics of this big red lantern. You can see how big it is by comparing it with those people walking. I wish I could explain the meaning of the black kanji, but I can't even read it.

There was a pond where those tortoises were resting. They'd definitely need water when it was so hot as this.

As I explained before, this is where you're supposed to put incense sticks. The smoke purifies your body and soul before you say a prayer. I think you can find things like this at every temple.

And there was a three-fold tower. It was constructed in 1712, and its height is 25m. You could say this tower is middle-sized.

When you take a closer look, you could recognize many dragon relieves. This tower was decorated flashy, but it was because this tower was constructed in the modern age. 

-to be continued-