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Published: February 5th 2011
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Kiyomizu temple entrance
This large orange gate towers on the top of the long winding road to the Temple. I found you!
Today I returned to 清水時Kiyomizu temple, a place I remembered visiting in my 2006 visit to Kyoto, but could never remember the name. Last time, my classmates and I had only a short 30 minutes to explore over a kilometer of shops selling curios, souveniors, and temple gifts. This time, I had an entire day to slowly meander up the street to reach the temple.
One thing I noticed, that I didn’t on the last trip, is that the shops nearest and furthest from the temple are the most expensive while the shops in the middle are much cheaper. I had a few gifts in mind, such as T-shirts for the niece 姪(めい)(mei) and nephew 甥(おい)(oi), and as I went to each shop I often times saw the exact same items for various prices. Chopsticks at one store may well be 1500 yen while they are only 550 yen at another – so I was careful to note the cheapest price and then search for that shop on my way back down the hill.
The road(s) leading to the Kiyomizu temple are teeming with so many interesting gifts that I quickly ran out of money
Traditional Garb
After asking permission, I snapped of photo of two lovely ladies enjoying danko (a sweet rice flour treat) in traditional kimonos. and ended up returning to my friends house in 佐那具 (sanagu) a couple of hours early. I wouldn’t have run out of money, except that I left my wallet at someone’s house the night before, thus foiling my plan of extracting some yen from my U.S. bank account at an international ATM. In fact, the only reason I had
any money was because I had set aside 5000 yen for the trip back to the airport and left it on the table at home. So once again, I was lucky in my bad luck.
Aside from shopping, I also took the time to chat up local vendors about culture, foreigners, and their wares. I got a lot of appreciation from the shop owners I chatted with. Westerners aren’t particularly well known for having Japanese in their language repertoire, and a surprising number who
can speak a little Japanese are afraid to try. I especially enjoyed a long, albeit grammatically elementary, conversation with a shop owner selling traditional Buddhist temple ware. I learned that incense are used to cleanse your body before entering the temple, and that beads are held woven around the hands while you pray.
Winding Road
Although today was considered a slow day, the roads leading to the tower were packed with shoppers and temple visitors. After discussing religion, the conversation turned to culture, and the shop owners (a mother and daughter pair) were curious to know what I knew about Japanese culture. This was a difficult question, mostly because I didn’t have the vocabulary to explain what cultural habits I understood. So I was forced to simplify my knowledge to “I understand bowing, elders, and chopsticks.” I then proceeded to tell her that I enjoy studying culture, and that I find Japanese people to be very nice and their culture to be very interesting. She was amazed, telling me that most Japanese think American culture is very cool, so it’s funny that an American like me would like the Japanese culture. I wasn’t exactly sure what to say to that, so I explained (in incredibly broken grammar) that I think we are all people, we all live on one planet, and I try to respect people and culture because we are human. The shop owners enthusiastically agreed, and I thanked them for the conversation as they kindly bowed me out of the shop.
It’s for those moments, when I learn about a cultures history, priorities, or system of government from a friendly local, that
Wishes
Temple visitors write wishes on pieces of wood, and pray to the temple gods to have their wishes granted. I think (although I'm not sure) that this temple is dedicated to the shinto religion. I love traveling.
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