Loose Ends

Today was my last full day in Kyoto! As such, it was imperative that I finish doing everything I planned to do here. I had planned to see the two 本願寺, as well as 松尾大社. If not for a few embarrassing events, today was a calm end to a very fun trip.

My hotel is only a few blocks away from the two 本願寺. They are the head temples for the two main branches of 浄土真宗: The Western Branch and the Eastern Branch (大谷派). While I'm not really a Buddhist, my grandparents and all of them went to Papaikou Hongwanji, and I have a lot of friends that went to the ヒロ本派本願寺. I was originally under the impression that the two temples were seperated by a great distance. But when I consulted a map of the city, I found that they are only a few blocks away from each other. I first went to the 東本願寺, which is closer to my hotel (also visible). The temple complex is pretty large, and is surrounded by a wall and moat. An interesting thing about this temple is that they have a huge flock of resident pigeons that you can feed if you buy a small bag of food (100￥). I like feeding animals, but this was either the most hilarious or the most frightening thing I have ever done. Have you ever seen the movie "The Birds"? In the movie, the birds go crazy and start to swarm (and attack) the people of a little town. That's pretty much what happened to me when they noticed I had food. I tried not to scream when a MASSIVE WALL OF PIGEONS surged towards me; out of reflex (and a bit of fear), I swung my arms around and may have hit a bird or two. I never want to be in the middle of a pidgeon storm, so I dont know if I'll ever be feeding those pigeons again. Anyways, after dealing with that, I headed to the main buildings. I didnt know what to expect, but the buildings were pretty much like every other 本願寺 I've ever been in, except on a much larger scale. Photography was not allowed, so I cant show you what the inside looked like, but if you've ever been in a temple, you can imagine the floor of tatami, and the raised platform where Amida Buddha is placed. After browsing the gift shop, I headed over to 西本願寺. And except for the flock of pigeons, everything that I said about the 東本願寺 goes for 西本願寺. I suppose I shouldnt be too surprised, but I was mildy amused that the two were almost exactly the same thing.

It was here at 西本願寺 that I had one unfortunate encounter. Because this year is a big anniversary for the death of Shinran Shonin, the two temples are undergoing renovation/restoration. One of the main halls of the temple was closed off from public access. However, because I saw a group of people walking around that area, I assumed that people were allowed there. But no, a few seconds later, a priest (trainee, I think) and a security guard came running over to tell me that no, you're not allowed there. Arghh. I quickly sped away to the bookstore, with my tail firmly set between my legs.

I wanted to visit 松尾大社 for a long time now. Mostly because it has a similar name to me, but as it turned out, it's a very peaceful shrine to visit. Getting there was the most complicated set of train transfers I've had to do. From Kyoto Station, I took the subway to 四条烏丸, where I had to transfer to the 阪急線 bound for 桂駅. From there, I had to make a final transfer to the 阪急嵐山線 to arrive at 松尾駅. I think this is the farthest out of the city I went on this trip! From there, I walked up to the shrine. The shrine area is rather large; probably the largest shrine I've been to yet. There are multiple shrine thingies, each devoted to a different 神様. I couldnt read all of them, but I did pray at a few of them. The main shrine was pretty nice too; apparently, its architectural style is different from most shrines. They also have a mini museum type thing, where three wooden statues are on display. I feel bad, because the old man in that section played the recorded explanation of the statues, but I have no idea what they were saying. I need to translate the little pamphlet they gave me. From there, I walked up a short path to where there is a small waterfall. It was here that some noble guy back in the day saw a turtle bathing, which led him to build 松尾大社. Because of the turtle, there were many turtle shaped objects around. I should have waited to buy my mother's omiyage here, because she would have loved to get a turtle お守り with our name on it! But instead, I got a small お守り for myself, as well as a book on the shrine. I highly recommend you to visit this shrine if you ever go to Kyoto. Although a bit removed from the city, it was so very peaceful there. It's also surrounded by nature, what with the forrested mountain in the background, as well as the waterfall and resulting river.

I suppose the unfortunate event that happened here wasnt so bad; in fact, for the temple, it was a very good thing. Because I didnt understand what was going on, I paid double admission to the small museum thing they have. There were two windows to pay at; one near the front gates, and another at the start of the path to the museum. After I paid the second time, I realized my mistake when I saw that she gave me the exact papers that the other window had given me. Oh well, I guess it's a good thing I'm helping out the family business, right?

I made my way back to my hotel, where I promptly fell asleep. I dont know how or why, because today was a pretty chill day, considering I only went to three religious sites. Also, while I had to go a bit aways for 松尾大社, it was mostly on a train, so I didnt even rack up that many steps today. And before sleeping, I had a coffee drink from the downstairs cafe!

In any case, after about three hours of sleep, I put myself together and headed back to ヨドバシカメラ to pick up my rice cooker. My aunty apparently feels sorry for me that I cook my rice on the stove, so she gave me money to buy a rice cooker. While it was fairly expensive, it cooks more rice than a single serving cooker that was the same price, so I got it. To make it worth my while, I'm hoping that we go on picnics and stuff during the spring, so I can have an excuse to make musbi, or spam musubi, or something. Feeling a bit hungry, I headed up to the top floor, where all the restaurants are. I decided on eating at a tempura restaurant, and I'm glad I did. I got the 特製海老丼, which had shrimp, shiso leaf, まいたけ mushrooms, and some kind of fishy thing. The waitress must have thought I was an idiot when I asked if it came with rice (PROTIP: If you see 丼 anywhere on the menu, it comes with rice), but the plate in the picture looked too shallow to have rice. But indeed it did, and the sauce that came with it was really something else. Thicker than the regular tempura dipping sauce, it went nicely with the meal. Another interesting thing about this restaurant is that water and miso soup are refillable. I was quite surprised when the waitress came over and asked if I wanted more miso soup after I had finished it. While it was a bit expensive at 980円, I was very satisfied with it, and do not regret it in the least.

I walked back to the hotel and began to pack. I dont know how, but I managed to get everything I had folded and into my suitcase in about forty five minutes. Which is pretty fast, if you know how I tend to spread out all over the place. However, I think I went shopping a little too much, because my suitcase is way heavier than it was when I got here. I think it's mostly because my rice cooker (which I hope doesnt break >.<), but I dont think all the scallops, ika, and rest of the things I bought are helping. Now that I've showered, all my clothes (except tomorrow's outfit) are packed away. I'm ready to check out at eleven, head to the station and leave on my bus a little after twelve. I've had just a wonderful vacation here in Kyoto. Catching up with an old friend, seeing many cultural properties, and of course SHOPPING! Haha. And while there were a few mistakes and embarressments, I think I can live with them. I will return to Hiroshima happy. ^_^