Japan 2023

This day was my favorite day in Kyoto. We started by visiting a museum. The grounds of this museum had a pretty garden on it. We then went to Kiyomizudera and it was amazing! There was a little bit of an incline and some steps as we walked, but nothing we weren’t used to. I was so in love with the view, I didn’t even mind the huge crowd that was there. Eventually some classmates and I saw snow cones and decided to get some. They were bigger than we thought and were a good price. After this, we went to to Gion to shop around-there were so many shops so I definitely will be coming back here! It was hard to see because of all the people, but the buildings are the ones I always see in pictures when I Google Kyoto. They are traditional type buildings, which is so cool. I also noticed a lot of Japanese women wearing kimonos, as well as some men. We went to Yasaka Shrine, and our last stop was Shijo Kawaramachi. Originally, a couple of us girls were going to rent kimonos to wear. By the time...

Today we traveled to Kyoto. It was unfortunately a rainy day and we were scheduled to visit the Toji shrine. Though we were getting rained on and it was. little chilly, it was still a beautiful place to be. I love that a lot of the shrines we visit have gardens on the grounds. This museum also had some really cool art artifacts. I unfortunately didn’t come prepared as I didn’t have an umbrella, so I got rained on which made me cold and wanting to leave. However, I still really enjoyed the place. We also got to walk through another temple, and the rain added a little bit of an effect to the place. The temple was pretty, and with the rain adding a mood to it, it made it very calming. After this visit, we decided to check into the hotel and decided to go to the Fushimi Imari Shrine. We had the option to either go to the top, halfway, or go the next day. A couple of classmates and I decided to go up as far as we felt. By the time we had gotten here and started walking up, the rain had calm...

Today we woke up early to attend a Buddhist fire ritual. I grew up in a Christian household and have never experienced any other religion before, so I was intrigued for this. The ceremony was performed by two monks, one by the main table and another by the gong instrument. They both recited prayers while the monk by the main area kept adding wood to the fire. The fire got larger as they both started chanting louder and faster, which was a cool touch to the ceremony. I felt it wouldn’t be polite to take pictures or videos, so I don’t have any pictures of the ceremony. After the ceremony, we went to Reihokan Museum. I loved the location of this museum. Several of the museums we’ve visited so far usually are surrounded by whatever city we are in, which is what made this one a little different. It was nice to walk around and be able to enjoy what I was seeing more. I also liked this museum because it had so many cool artifacts. It was interesting to see how the art style and materials used...

Today we traveled from Nara to Koyasan. It was a cute little town up in the mountains. You would think it wouldn’t be popular among tourists, but that would be incorrect. I’m pretty sure I saw more tourists than Japanese people. Aside from that, we stayed at a temple. Thankfully we were able to check in right when we got there. This place is the most traditional place we’re staying at for the whole trip I believe. Of course, with the tatami mats, there were no shoes allowed in the temple. While the hotel in Kii Katsura had traditional rooms, they were simply a modern take on the traditional rooms. What made these different is that all the “walls” could be opened, so you could hear everything everyone was doing basically. So I knew the night would be interesting (spoiler: I was right. I heard snorers two rooms down). Although the town was a little overrun by tourists, it’s still so cool to see the amount of people that have done their research to come to this town. It’s an old style tow...

Today was exciting because it was another day to interact with animals! We went to Kofukuji Temple, Todaiji Temple and Kasuga Grand Shrine. What was unique about these places compared to the other shrines and temples we visited was that there were deer roaming around interacting with humans. In America, deer don’t interact with people at all so it was quite interesting seeing how different they are in Japan. These three places had the largest amount of people, so much so that there was a lot of pushing and worming around through the crowds. There were a lot of school field trips at these places as well. That shows the pride Japan has in their historical sites, and how popular these places are within the education field. I can say whenever I’ve gone on a school field trip, I don’t remember seeing that many schools at the same place. Kasuga Grand Shrine is so big, no wonder its called Grand. Usually when walking through a shrine or temple, it takes 5-10 minutes, but this one took double ...

Today we went took the Kumano Kodo route to Nachi Falls. Unfortunately, my gym shoes were not in the best condition due to the rain from the previous days, so I had to wear my Converse to climb the mountain. For a brief minute the thought of hiking up the mountain was unpleasant, but the thought of getting the exercise appealed to me quickly. I didn’t know this before, but Kumano Kodo is a pilgrimage route. These days, it’s a popular hiking trail in Japan for both Japanese people and tourists. As Professor Hoffert was saying, that is how they traveled back in the day. Not going to lie, when that was said it motivated me to keep going. I have a lot more privilege than those people did, and I do exercise on a regular basis so the difficulty isn’t anything my body isn’t used to. The modernization of this trail is the fact that is viewed as another hiking trail for some. But I think it’s always good to remember the history of the grounds you are on. Something I noticed about Japan is that ...