According to Japanese mythology two deities are responsible for the creation of the Japanese archipelago and its gods. Their names were Izanagi (The Male Who Invites) and Izanami (The Female Who Invites). The myth says they descend to Yomitsu Kuni, the underworld and land of darkness. Stories about Izanagi and Izanami are were written in the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters) and the Nihongi (Chronicles of Japan) in around 700AD. As in other culture, myth and history are intricately and misleadingly intertwined in Japanese historical records.
Legend tells that after they were born Izanagi and Izanami stood on the floating bridge of heaven and stirred the primeval soup with a jeweled spear. It is unclear who was in the habit of giving large, heavy weapons to newborn babies. When they lifted the spear, the drop that fell back into the ocean transformed into [...]
Aoi Matsuri takes place in the triangle of land formed by the convergence of the Kamo River and Takano River. The point at which they join is known as the Tadasu River Banks are (Tadasu-gawara 糺河原). This means that Shimogamo is a “River Confluence Shrine”.
In the triangular area of land between the rivers, just north of Imadegawa station there is a forested area known as Tadasu-no-mori. This convergence gives Shimogamo Jinja a powerfully spiritual aura which makes Aoi Matsuri all the more atmospheric. Once you enter the forest glade in the triangle of the rivers the city melts several hundred years into the distance.
The festival consists of two main parts, the shrine rites and a procession, which is led by the imperial messenger behind whom are said to be two oxcarts, four cows, 36 horses and some 600 people wearing costumes based on Heian era clothes, on which are emblazoned [...]
In Japan Valentine’s day is a great day on which women worship at the altar of awesomeness that is… dude. The ladies get their turn next month on White Day on which the men buy presents for the girls. The best part is, we only have to buy “giri choco” (duty chocolate) for those who bought it for us.
If you’re anything like the ORAZ team you’ll have a received a tidy pile of obligatory confectionery today, each item a testament to the clear desire in the giver that their relationship to you not be misconstrued in any way. We’re keeping tidy records of who we owe “giri choco” and to whom we owe the new concept of the “kansha choco” (gratitude chocolate).
It seems ironic that Valentine’s Day has traditionally been a day on which the shy finally have a pretext for confessing true love, but in Japan an entire industry [...]
Aoi Matsuri is one of Kyoto’s most famous festivals. It takes places in the height of summer on May 15th. A large procession of participants dressed in traditional costume form a large and incredibly impressive procession and leave Kyoto’s imperial palace at 10.30am before making their way first to Shimogamo-jinja and then Kamigamo-jinja in northern Kyoto.
With the help of what seems to be every last one of Kyoto’s boys in blue the streets are closed and the traffic lights controlled to allow the caravan through. Hundreds upon hundreds of brightly dressed and highly decorated volunteers stun drivers and passers by as they march through the streets carrying large props and traditional festival items.
The festival is thought to have begun during the reign of Emperor Kinmei in the sixth century. A series of natural disasters had destroyed crops throughout Kansai causing the Emperor to send priests and a retinue to the [...]
the grand entrance
A maiko is a trainee geisha in her final stages of training and here she is led into Yasaka Jinja by her mentor, or “mother, to perform for the Setsubun Festival.
This is a “Komainu” statue outside the main entrance to Yasaka-jinja Shrine in the Higashiyama area of Kyoto.
The word Komainu literally means Korean dog and is thought to derive from the Japanese word Koma that refers to the Koguryo kingdom of Korea.
Over the years they have been placed at the entrances to Japanese shrines to ward off evil spirits and have taken on the open and closed mouth depictions of the “Ah-Un” statues.
“Ah” represents the open, inhaling mouth and”un” represents the closed or exhaling mouth. Together they represent eternity, cyclicality and an unspoken bond between the guardians.
In the early Heian period (9th century) the two statues were clearly distinguished: the figure on the left, called shishi 獅子 (lion), [...]
We at Of Rice and Zen are often asked “just what the heck is Hatsumode?” The phrase hatsumode (初詣) is thrown around a lot on new year’s day and means the first shrine visit of the new year. In a city like Kyoto with hundreds of shrines to choose from the difficulty comes in the form of an embarrassment of riches. Which shrine should one choose? Which shrines will be the busiest? What should I do when I get there? Well fear not, Kyoto dweller, ORAZ is here to give you some tips:
Yasaka Shrine
People go here to pray for protection from evils. This is rather a vague thing to pray for, but we gather it will prevent you from coming into contact with TV shows devoted to the “making” of generic pop stars and prejudice.
Tel : 075-561-6155
Access : City Bus No.206 “Gion”
Jishu Shrine
People go here to pray for a good [...]
Niō literally means two kings and refer to the two large guardians either side of Buddhist temple gates. A holds a lightning bolt and Un wields a large sword. Iconographically the pair are thought to represent two sides of one deity name Misshaki Kongō, although there are competing views as to their original identities.
When facing temples gates, the (camera) right hand figure is known as “A” and the left figure is “Un”, which refers to the open mouthed “ah” and closed mouthed “mmm” facial expressions. The two figures, their facial expressions and by extension their names represent inhalation and exhalation, yin and yang, eternal balance, the beginning and end of all things.
Sagicho is a festival that takes place near Kyoto in the neighbouring prefecture of Shiga in a town called Omi-hachiman. Omi-Hachiman (近江八幡市; Omi-Hachiman-shi) is a city in Shiga Prefecture on the east shore of Lake Biwa.
A former castle town and merchant town with many remnants of its historical past, especially at Hachiman-bori canal at the foot of Mt. Hachiman-yama where the castle, built by Hideyoshi’s nephew Hidetsugu, once stood. Locals just call the city “Hachiman” for short.
Omi-Hachiman is also a lake city fronting Lake Biwa as well as Lake Nishinoko where Suigo boat rides are a major attraction. In fact, this Suigo area of waterways and tall reeds has the distinction of being Japan’s first “Important Cultural Scenery” (重要文化的景観). With all these attractions, Omi-Hachiman is quite tourist-oriented with tourist info offices in the train station and Hachiman-bori, as well as signs in English explaining the various sights.
The Sagicho Matsuri festival [...]
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A Butsudan (佛壇 or 仏壇) is a family shrine kept in the Japanese family home at which one prays to and leaves offerings to one ancestors. Although the word “shrine” is commonly associated with the Japanese Shinto religion, the Butsudan is a Buddhist object. The Japanese joke goes at that you are born into the Shinto religion, married as a Christian and die a Buddhist.
The Butsudan typically has closing doors that are left open during religious observances and may contain a statue or mandala scroll, incense, candles, perhaps a memorial tablet or small platforms on which one may leave offerings.
Although these shrines and alters would once have been used (in India and Asia) as places in which to pray to Buddha and his teachings, they have taken on the character of personal possessions in Japan.
Daigo-ji in Kyoto is one of the city’s most city’s most celebrated temples when is comes to cherry blossom and autumn leaf viewing.
More than seven hundred years after Daigo-ji was founded, in 1598, Toyotomi Hideyoshi held a hanami (“cherry blossom viewing party”) at the Sambō-in sub-temple of Daigo. It passed into legend and causes the temple to be flooded with hundreds of families every April when the sakura blooms.
The reason for its fame is no longer clear but if modern Japanese hanami parties are anything to go by presumably everyone got bombed, then Hideyoshi got his waps out and started dancing on something high before falling off of it.
In the Autumn season the Japanese maple explode into too-good-to-be-real shades of flame. But the photos in this post were taken in the spring of 2009.
Daigo-ji’s located in the Fushimi-ward of Kyoto on the Tozai subway line and belongs to the Shingon [...]
