Kyoto - Second Day

- Nijo Castle
o http://www.city.kyoto.jp/bunshi/nijojo -> English pamphlet is in the bottom of the page.
o Nijo Castle was completed in 1626 and was home to the Shogun (military an political leader of Japan). It is one of the few buildings that where in their original state. A few of the other temples have been rebuild through out time due to fires or the effects of war. One very interesting aspect of the castle was that when you walked through the hallway the floor would squeak in order to alarm the Shogun of any intruders. Here we are in the Nijo Castle garden.

- Kinkakuji Temple (Golden Pavilion)
o http://kaiwai.city.kyoto.jp/sightdb/sight-raku/view_sight.php?InforKindCode=1&ManageCode=1000243
o The golden pavilion was the retirement home of one of Japan's Shoguns. It was truly radiant since their where no clouds in sight and the gold leaves that cover the building where shining brightly. Here we are in front of the temple. - Kyoto Imperial Palace

o Here is a picture of the coronation hall used for the official ceremony. We learned during the tour that the current Emperor is a direct descendent of the first Emperor, so there has only been one imperial family throughout the history of Japan.

- Heian Shrine
o http://www.heianjingu.or.jp/index_e.html

o Here we are in front of the shrine. There was a huge garden in the back of the building which was also very beautiful.

- Sanjusangendo
o http://www.taleofgenji.org/sanjusangendo.html
o This temple is famous for its 1001 statues of Kannon, the goddess of mercy. Each statue has different objects in their hands in order to protect the people from different evils. Once again you can't take any pictures inside but I found this one on the internet. You could seriously spend hours in there just trying to figure out the small details that make the statues different.

- Kiyomizu Temple
o http://www.farstrider.net/Japan/Kyoto/Kiyomizudera.htm
o This was the most crowded temple of the whole trip. Later we found out that since we are in Obon week if you visit the temple once it's equivalent to visiting it 1000 times!!! The temple was on top of a very steep hill full of little souvenir shops. Here is Orlando in front of the temple.

This is me and my color coordinated Buddha friends.

One of the interesting things about this tour is that there where people from all over the world visiting Japan. It was the first time in a month where I finally heard a lot of Spanish being spoken. We meet some people from Argentina and a lot of people from Spain who where all very nice to us and helped us take some pictures. I guess Japan is a mystery to us all.