Today the weather really cleared up. The sun was shining brightly and it warmed up a bunch too.
In the morning we went to Kyoto castle (Nijo Castle). The castle grounds were very pretty with all the sakura blooming and the castle itself (that we could walk around in) was cool too. First thing you come upon at the castle is the Karamon Gate, which is the main entrance to the castle.
Once inside the castle grounds, the first place we went to was the Ninomaru Palace. The decorations, carvings, and paintings in the palace were pretty elaborate. One of the other really neat features about the palace was the Nightingale floor. It was specifically build so that the floor would squeek when you walked across it. This was done so that people inside the palace would be warned of intruders. Although you couldn't take pictures inside the palace itself, I did take a few of the carvings that were on the outside of the main entrance
After checking out the Ninomaru palace, we walked around the castle grounds, which, of course, still had the sakura trees blooming. That, combined with the little ponds, it was a very beautiful place.
Here are also a couple of the other buildings that were located on the castle grounds.
And finally, we walked up to the top of one of the castle walls to check out the view.
After checking out the Nijo Castle, our plan was to head south of Kyoto station to Nishi and Higashi Hongan-ji temples. Nishi (West) seemed to me to be MUCH bigger than Higashi (East), but maybe that was because it was a lot more open and a lot more crowded.
When you first come up to Nishi Hongan-ji temple, you arrive at the entrance gate (the right picture is looking back at the gate from inside the temple).
As you walk into the open courtyard of the temple, across the way you can see the main hall (called the Founder's Hall). According to the sign in front of it, it is the largest wooden structure in the world
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When you arrive at the main hall, you can take your shoes off, head up the stairs, and see the prayer halls inside of the main hall. But before I looked inside, I snapped a couple pics from the deck looking back out towards the courtyard.
I got to see part of a Buddhist ceremony that was going on (being that it was Sunday morning). There were a lot of people inside partaking in the ceremonies. I briefly watched (from the back of the hall), and then proceeded on. Two of the more interesting things on the deck of the main hall, were these two items. The one on the left is a giant wooden sled that used to be used to transport the huge logs that were used to build the temple. The picture on the left is a rope made entirely out of human hair. Because human hair was stronger than typical rope of those days, it made better rope.
After looking around Nishi Hongan-ji temple, we walked a couple blocks east to Higashi Hongan-ji temple. It was completely barren. We were the only people walking around. A vast difference than the other temple we were just at. Since there was not really anything going on, we looked around, I took a few pics, and we headed on.
As it was nearing noon, we hurried back to the hotel. The plans were to meet up with two guys that Ted knew who worked at Nintendo, Ume and Akira. When they arrived at the hotel, we headed off for lunch at a place that reminded me of a Japanese Denny's (well, minus the Japanese food and the private rooms). It was surprisingly very tasty.
After lunch, they took us to Sanjusangen-do temple. What an amazing place! The main hall was built in 1164 and is the longest wooden structure in the world (just under 400 feet long). Its main statue is a seated Kannon (goddess of mercy). This status is about 12 feet tall and has 1,000 arms.
But, surprisingly, this statue isn't what makes the hall so unbelievable. Stretching out on either side of this main image in rows of 50 long and 10 deep, are 500, four foot tall, nearly identical Kannon images. (1001 total to be exact). The whole effect of this hall is aboslutely stunning.
In front of the Kannon statues are thirty other statues representing the different Buddhist gods. This was definitely one of the more interesting temples we saw while in Kyoto. Akira and his wife had already been here many times before, so just Ted, Ume, and I went in to see it.
After gazing at the statues, we took a look around at the rest of the temple grounds as well.
After seeing Sanjusangen-do, we next made a quick stop at Heian Shrine. Akira and Ume got separated in traffic on the way there, so basically while we were waiting for Akira to show up, Ted and I took a quick walk to Heian shrine. Being Sunday, the place was packed. I'm glad we didn't try and fight our way here on the buses. That would've not been much fun.
This first set of pics, I took as we were walking up to the shrine itself. The two on the left are actually a giant toorii gate that is over the top of the road leading into the shine.
And here are a couple more pictures near the entrance of the shrine. The lanterns (below, right) were located just to the right of the shrine entrance.
And finally, I took a panoramic of the temple grounds as well.
After Akira showed up, we next headed off to Toys R Us ^_^. The Toys R Us in Japan is pretty darn cool. I think it's the only place you'd be able to see an entire isle dedicated to nothing but Gundam Models. (unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of it...) I bought a few things (which I still need to figure out how to send home), and we headed off to dinner.
More okonomiyake. MMMMM Yummy!! It's quickly becoming my new most favorite Japanese food. Ok, I'm tired. It's bed time.