Craig and I followed a walking tour from our Lonely Planet. It was long and exhausting but comprehensive and we saw beautiful beautiful temples.
Jizo
Jizo are small statues decorated with red aprons here and there in Kyoto, and especially at Kiyomizu. Each of these represents the soul of a dead child, often placed by a mother who aborted a baby. The apron is meant to keep the child warm in the afterlife, to atone for the death.
Kiyomizu-Dera
We were on a verandah that dated from 1633. Eesh.
(that's the Kyoto tower in the background)
Otowa-no-taki, the lucky waterfall
You drink for Health, Longevity, and Success.
Tanuki - Racoon Dog
Statues of tanuki can be found outside many Japanese temples and restaurants, especially noodle shops. These statues often wear big, cone-shaped hats and carry bottles of sake in one hand, and a promissory note or empty purse in the other hand. Tanuki statues always have large bellies. The statues also usually show humorously large testicles, typically hanging down to the floor or ground.
The legendary tanuki is reputed to be mischievous and jolly, a master of disguise and shapeshifting, but somewhat gullible and absent-minded.
Yep. Those aren't legs. They're balls. Giant racoon dog balls.
The Ryozen Kannon is a war memorial commemorating the Japanese who died during World War II located in Eastern Kyoto. The concrete and steel statue of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (Kannon) was built by Hirosuke Ishikawa and unveiled on the 8th June 1955. The statue is 24 m (80 ft) high and weighs approximately 500 tons.
(I love big Buddha!)
Beware Duck, Carp are HUGE
At Chionen Temple, where we walked on a Nightingale Floor.
Craig found a model store. I stood outside (it was claustrophobic in there! (and boring))
The beginning of an obsession. Fanta Jelly.
We collapsed back at the hotel (Soya Sauce crisps!) before heading out to the covered shopping district to hunt out food and ... an umbrella.
The Inglorious Basterds poster looks so much cooler in Japanese.
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