Nara, Japan

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On Sunday I had off to Nara, Japan to take in some of the city that use to be the ancient capital city of Japan.With a population of 363,000 Nara is the second most popular tourist attraction in Kansai area after Kyoto.Several shrines and temples in the area have been named Uneso World Heritage sites and we were fortunate to visit many of them.

Among the most interesting was the Todai-ji temple which houses an enormous Budda statue, which is the main tourist attraction in Nara Histories believe that the Emperor ordered the building of the Buddha,known as Daibutsu (The Great Buddha) which stands 3 stories high, to ward of smallpox which was ravaging Japan in 746 when the Budda was built. At th back of the statue is a hole, the same size of one of the Budda´s nostrils, its said if you squeeze yuor whole body through the hole you will be gaurenteed enlightenment!

The Great Budda is housed on a grounds known as Daibutsu-den Hall, which is the largest wood building in the world.

We had hoped to take in the water - drawing ceremony that Nara is famous for. The monks of Todai-ji enter a special period of initation on these days and they parade huge flamings torches around the balcony of the temple. But 4 hours before 15,000 people had already gathered in the rain to catch a glimpse and 15,000 more were expected before the show, so we won´t have been able to see much.

On the way home I took a wrong turn and briefly ended up on the wrong train but a friendly Japanese woman helped me out, going 20 minutes out of her way on the train with me to ensure I got back on the right route.

Teaching continues to go well, the other day I taught the funniest Japanese businessman. I asked him to make a sentence using behaviour and one using anxious. His response : I don´t understand my wife´s behaviour. When I come home late she yells at me. I have a lot of anxiety because I use to drink and now I worry about my liver!
Needless to say he made me laugh!

There is also a huge summo tournament in Osaka right now so I´ve seen over 20 summo wrestlers walking around on the streets in their kummos and wooden sandals!


Anyway, I hope you are all well, thank you for the great emails. Please keep in touch!

love, Melissa

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Comments

[Connie]

Nara...... sightseeing
It sounds like you had a fun time! The grounds or walkways always look so tidy. ....Maybe you will see a SUMO match. love....MOM