Friday evening, 5 of us took a bullet train to Kyoto - the trains go over 200 mph, and it took us about 2 1/2 hours to get to Kyoto station. There was city high rise buildings visible for the entire trip. This morning I took a tour of Kyoto using a touring company, while the other women chose to look arounnd themselves. The above pictures are from Nijo Castle, which was the Shogun's home before the Meiji Restoration. The Shogun was the head of the Japanese military. When we went inside Nijo castle, we took off our shoes. The floors, called Nightingale floors squeaked to warn them of intruders. The carvings and tapestries were over 800 years old. I was glad I took the tour because I learned alot about the significance of certain things, such as the pine tree symbolizing strength to the shogun, because it doesn't lose it's leaves, etc.
After Nijo castle, we went to a shrine called Kitanu Tanmangu. This Shinto Shrine is to worship the god of education. Many school children in Japan visit the shrine to help them do better on their entrance exams. While we were at the shrine, we were lucky to see a bride and groom. Traditionally, a bride and groom also visit a shrine to pray and pay homage to the gods. They were accompanied by several priests. A large part of the shinto religion is the cleansing process. People even bring in their cars to be purified, so that they might be accident free for the year. When the people are praying to the shinto gods, they clap or ring a bell to make sure they have the god's attention. Then they pray silently. I am learning just bits and pieces about shintoism and buddhism. I know that Shintoism has to do with our earthly life, it's trials, and how to remain clean or pure for god. Buddhism is the worship of buddha, and has to do with the afterlife. The two religions fit together, and often there are buddha statues at shinto shrines. The Shinto shrines are marked with an arch. The buildings are and arches are painted a bright orange.
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