Kyoto - Day 2

Our second day in Kyoto was a hot, busy day. The focus was mostly on important shrines in the area. Since this was supposed to be our day to visit Kameoka and that fell through, we decided to make the best of it. Ironically, we didn't get our school visit but we have been surrounded by junior high age children at every shrine and temple we've visited. We've been able to observe how the teachers interact with the groups (very hands-on), and how the children interact with one another (Adolescent attitude is universal!) It's interesting to see the similarities and differences when compared to our own students.

We started our morning at the Fushimi Inari Shrine, known for its thousands of red torii gates. It is one of the oldest and most visited Shinto shrines in all of Japan. It's deity is the god of prosperity in business and the god of rice. It was amazing to see all of those red gates against the green forested area surrounding them.

Next, we took a train to Arashiyama to the bamboo forest. Arashiyama is a nationally-designated Historic Site and Place of Scenic Beauty. We've learned many ways the Japanese use bamboo. One surprising fact was that a bolt of bamboo is used to fuse the wooden handle of a samurai sword to its blade.

To finish the day, we stopped at both Nishi Hongan-Ji Temple (west) and Higashi Hongano-Ji Temple (east). Both of the Jodo-Shin Buddhism sect, Nishi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Higashi is the largest wooden structure in Kyoto.