Wow, this theme of buildings took a while to put together. It is the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, of what we experienced on our visit to Japan. Entire books have been written about temples, shrines, castles and Japanese architecture. I touched on some details and history below but mostly, enjoy the pictures. ;)
Buddhist Temples
Below you will find images of Buddhist temples. Further down this post, you will find pictures of Shinto Shrines. Combined, there are hundreds of thousands of them throughout the country. It was one of our favorite things to encounter or visit during our six weeks on Honshu Island. I separated the two sets of pictures to try to show the difference between them; however, as you will see in the words below, to look at a shrine or a temple and be able to tell the difference sometimes requires expert knowledge. The easiest difference we could come up with is that temples house Buddhas and shrines house kami, or gods and spirits.
Similarities between temples and shrines are also functional. Like a shrine, a Buddhist temple is not primarily a place of worship: its most important buildings are used for the safekeeping of sacred objects and are not accessible to worshipers. Unlike a Christian church, a temple is also a monastery. There are specialized buildings for certain rites, but these are usually open only to a limited number of participants. Religious mass gatherings do not take place with regularity as with Christian religions and are, in any event, not held inside the temple. If many people are involved in a ceremony, it will assume a festive character and will be held outdoors. The architectural elements of a Buddhist temple are meant to embody the themes and teachings of Buddhism.
The successive development of Buddhism and kami (gods) worship brought about the almost complete fusion of kami worship and Buddhism.It became normal for shrines to be accompanied by temples in mixed complexes. The opposite was also common: most temples had at least a small shrine dedicated to its kami and were therefore called temple shrines. As a consequence, for centuries, shrines and temples had a symbiotic relationship where each influenced the other. Shrines took from Buddhism its gates, the use of a hall for lay worshipers, the use of vermilion-colored wood, and more.
The clear separation between Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, which today is the norm, emerges only as a result of the shinbutsu bunri ("separation of kami and Buddhas") law of 1868. This separation was mandated by law, and many shrine-temples were forced to become just shrines.
The original Golden Pavilion is believed to have been constructed in 1399. During the Ōnin war (1467–1477), all of the buildings in the complex aside from the pavilion were burned down. On 2 July 1950, at 2:30 am, the pavilion was burned down by a 22-year-old novice monk, Hayashi Yoken, who then attempted suicide on the hill behind the building. He survived and was taken into custody. The monk was sentenced to seven years in prison, but was released because of mental illnesses (persecution complex and schizophrenia) on 29 September 1955; he died of tuberculosis in March 1956. During the fire, the original statue of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was lost to the flames (now restored). The present pavilion structure dates from 1955, when it was rebuilt.
One of our two overnight adventures while staying in Misawa with friends was to "the hatchet". Mount Osore is the name of a Buddhist temple and folk religion pilgrimage destination in the center of the remote Shimokita Peninsula of Aomori Prefecture, in the northern Tōhoku region of northern Japan. The temple is located in the caldera of an active volcano and is believed in Japanese mythology to be one of the gates to the underworld.
Above is the main gate entering the Showa Daibutsu Buddhist Temple. To the right is a temple on the grounds.
Sanjūsangen-dō Temple is most famous for its massively long hondō (main hall) dating from 1266 and designated a National Treasure of Japan. The collection of sculptures it houses, including 1001 standing Thousand-armed Kannon, 28 standing attendants, a statue of Fūjin and a statue of Raijin, and the principal image of the temple, and a big seated statue of Thousand-armed Kannon. Taking pictures was not allowed. The hall is to the right and the temple to the left.
Hakkasan Hoko-ji Temple, Nanbu. This was a temple nestled in the hilly forest outside of Hachinohe. To the left are temple buildings and housing for the priests/monks. To the right is a shrine.
Bridges
Here is a set of bridges on the Sumida River in Tokyo. On our day to ourselves we took a train to the river tour office and went on a 45 minute tour of the river. After that we took another train to the Tokyo National Museum. But, here are the bridges.
The bridge in Aomori City, not on the river tour.
Castles
The castles were amazing.
Osaka Castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century. The history of this castle is vast. In recent history, during World War II, American bombing raids targeted the arsenal and damaged the reconstructed main keep and, on August 14, 1945, destroyed 90% of the arsenal and killed 382 people working there. In 1995, Osaka's government approved a restoration project, with the intent of restoring the main keep to its Edo-era splendor. In 1997, restoration was completed. The keep is a concrete reproduction (including elevators) of the original and the interior is intended as a modern, functioning museum.
Koraku-en garden houses Okayama Castle. The main tower was completed in 1597, destroyed in 1945 and replicated in concrete in 1966. Two of the watchtowers survived the bombing of 1945 and are now listed by the national Agency for Cultural Affairs as Important Cultural Properties. In stark contrast to the white "Egret Castle" of neighboring Himeji, Okayama Castle has a black exterior, earning it the nickname Crow Castle, or "castle of the black bird".
Kōraku-en is one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan, along with Kenroku-en and Kairaku-en. Korakuen was built in 1700 by Ikeda Tsunamasa, lord of Okayama. The garden reached its modern form in 1863.
Hirosaki Castle, above, is a hirayama-style Japanese castle constructed in 1611. It is located in what is now central Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture. This was the goal of our first overnight excursion from Misawa. The grounds were beautiful.
Himeji Castle dates to 1333 when it was built as fort on top of Himeyama hill. The fort was dismantled and rebuilt as Himeyama Castle in 1346 and then remodeled into Himeji Castle two centuries later. Himeji Castle was then significantly remodeled in 1581 when a three-story castle keep was added. In 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu awarded the castle to Ikeda Terumasa for his help in the Battle of Sekigahara, and Ikeda completely rebuilt the castle from 1601 to 1609, expanding it into a large castle complex. For almost 700 years, Himeji Castle has remained intact, withstanding incidents such as the bombing of Himeji in World War II, and natural disasters, including the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake.
Himeji Castle is the largest and most visited castle in Japan, and it was registered in 1993 as one of the first UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the country. The area within the middle moat of the castle complex is a designated Special Historic Site and five structures of the castle are also designated National Treasures. Himeji Castle is considered one of Japan's three premier castles. The castle buildings underwent restoration work for several years and reopened to the public on March 27, 2015. The works also removed decades of dirt and grime, restoring the formerly grey roof to its original brilliant white color.
Cityscapes
Here's a sampling of some of the cityscapes we encountered.
Osaka from the Osaka Castle observation deck.
Hiroshima from our hotel room, day and night.
Kyoto, Nishiki Market. Note the electrical lines.
Kazamaura in "the hatchet" part of Aomori Prefecture.
Doors
Here is a collection of doors I found interesting.
Shrine and temple doors were beautiful. On the left is from Showa Daibutsu Buddhist temple and Osorezan on the right.
Cloth "banners" are commonly found over doors and entrances.
Below is a set of private home entrances we encountered throughout our travels in Japan. Sliding doors are more common than I have pictured here.
Doors to a building at a shrine in Hachinohe.
A door to the Shogun mausoleum in Tokyo.
A door to a local shop down a small
Hotel Rooms
Our first hotel room was a bedroom at our friend's house in Misawa. Apparently, I never took a picture of that. Here is a sampling of the hotel rooms we stayed in on our two self-guided overnights and our tour once we left Misawa. The beds were separate (no king size) and each hotel provided you with ill-fitting pajamas.
This was our first hotel experience in Hirosaki. Note the slippers in the lower left. Those are to be used when one enters the bathroom. This hotel had the best dinner and breakfast buffet.
We took a shinkansen (bullet train) to Tokyo to meet up with our tour group the next day. We arrived on September 15th, toured in the bus around Tokyo on the 16th, toured ourselves on the 17th and headed to Mt Fuji on the 18th.
This in the ryokan in Kazamura on our second self-guided overnight excursion. The room is simple with everything being at ground level, including the mirror and tv. We were surprised it had a tv. You can see the low table in the lower right corner and sitting mat. One night was enough. We were provided with robes for walking down to the basement hot spring. The bathroom was down two hallways, then take a left. Dinner and breakfast was an experience. More on that in the food blog.
This was possibly our favorite hotel room in Mishima, a short drive from Mt Fuji. We would take the shinkansen to Osaka the next day so we wee within walking distance of the station. Our window overlooked the station. We loved the window seat.
We all made the train in Mishima. I'm not sure our guide thought we'd pull it off. lol. This is our Osaka room where we stayed for two nights before taking our bus to Hiroshima.
This is where we stayed in Kyoto for three nights. That gave us a day of bus touring, a day to ourselves and the final morning found us in a shuttle van heading back to Osaka and a flight home. Checkout the closet in the upper left corner.
I don't have a picture of our Hiroshima hotel room but check this out. Our hotel is that little building at the top of the larger lower office building.
Pagodas
Most Japanese pagodas are found in Buddhist temples. They were primarily used to hold Buddhist relics and sacred religious objects. The five tiers of Japanese pagodas symbolize elements of the universe. These elements are earth, water, fire, wind, and space. The term ''pagoda'' refers to the multi-tiered Japanese structure that is a prominent secondary feature of Japanese temples and gardens.
Senso-ji Buddhist Temple,
Hakkasan Hokoji Temple is located in Nanbu Town. It is said that Joyoto, constructed in 1949, is the tallest three-story pagoda in Japan. Visitors can experience Zazen (Zen meditation) and listen a Buddhist sermon by the temple master. One can also see a 1000 year old cedar or stroll along Sanbonmatsu-namiki (one-thousand-pine-lined street) that has been selected for the best 100 pines in Japan.
Showa Daubutsu Buddha, Aomori City.
Itsukushima Shrine
Chureito Pagoda
Pathways and Steps
Subway stations are pretty orderly. Lines are formed and one goes up on the left and down on the right. And they are CLEAN!!
A path leading to a shrine in Tokyo and a path meandering through a grassy park in Misawa.
Up and down some neighborhood shrines.
A set of stairs heading up at the Golden Pavilion. We did not have time to take these stairs.
The path heading to one of our favorite shrines on the road to Osorezan.
The path heading to another one of our favorite shrines in Hachinohe.
Ellen heading down from the Wakamiya Inari Shrine in the neighborhood of our ryokan in Kazamaura.
These are steps to get to the grounds of the Showa Daibutsu Buddhist Temple in Aomori City.
There were many paths through the forests in and around temples and shrines. This one was near Lake Towada. We were told the northern part of Japan is still 80-85% forest.
Restaurants
Toki Ramen, the Nelson's (our hosts) favorite ramen spot. We also went to a great curry spot and...HAMA SUSHI! Our first experience with conveyor belt food delivery.
Lunch at a hotel on our tour. Yup, that's Mt. Fuji out the window!
Finding little places to eat in the neighborhood near our hotel in Tokyo. Some of these places had only two or three tables!
Our final restaurant meal with the Nelsons before we departed for our tour of the southern cities in a couple of days.
A little restaurant in a neighborhood of Hachinohe. More on who took us here in the future People blog post.
This is an Indian restaurant we found in Tokyo. Naan in Japan is the BEST! We ate a lot of Indian food...lol.
A little standing room only restaurant in a neighborhood on our way to one of the big shrines. See the counter on the left wall? Yup, that's it. You stand there and eat. Walking (or driving) and eating is not done in Japan.
Another little restaurant on the way to the same shrine with little tables to sit at along the left wall.
This is a little restaurant we found on one of our day trips outside of Misawa. It was a rainy day so we headed back to Hachinohe for some indoor fun at the thrift stores. This is one of the few restaurants that had no pictures on the menu and no one who spoke English. We did our best with Google Translate to read menu but lo and behold, what came to us is NOT what we thought we ordered. This is Ellen's laugh/cry moment. Way to recognize it Evonne! lol. The lunch was delicious and it was a great experience.
Shinto Shrines
There are between 80,000 and 85,000 shsrines in Japan. However, when including auxiliary shrines, roadside altars, and unregistered local shrines, the total number is estimated to reach between 200,000 and 300,000. Here is a mere sampling of the shrines we encountered in our travels. These and temples were certainly one of the highlights of our trip.
Shrines enshrining local kami (gods or spirits) existed long before the arrival of Buddhism. With the arrival of Buddhism in Japan in the 6th century, shrines were subjected to its influence and adopted both the concept of permanent structures and the architecture of Buddhist temples.
Shinto revolves around supernatural entities called the kami. The kami are believed to inhabit all things, including forces of nature and prominent landscape locations. The kami are worshipped at kamidana household shrines, family shrines, and jinja public shrines. The latter are staffed by priests, known as kannushi, who oversee offerings of food and drink to the specific kami enshrined at that location. This is done to cultivate harmony between humans and kami and to solicit the latter's blessing. Other common rituals include the dances, rites of passage, and kami festivals. Public shrines supply religious objects, such as amulets, to the religion's adherents. Shinto places a major conceptual focus on ensuring purity, largely by cleaning practices such as ritual washing and bathing, especially before worship. Little emphasis is placed on specific moral codes or particular afterlife beliefs, although the dead are deemed capable of becoming kami. The religion has no single creator or specific doctrine, and instead exists in a diverse range of local and regional forms.
Kabushima Shrine located in Hachinohe, Aomori, was first built in 1269 on top of the Kabushima island by fishermen to pray for safety and good harvest at sea. The shrine has been rebuilt several times throughout its history. It was burnt down in November 2015 and rebuilt in 2020.
Sanbongi Inari Shrine, Towada, Aomori Prefecture. We found this one by accident while having lunch at a 7-11 across the street.
Buildings at the Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto. More on this shrine in the next section.
Unknown, found on our way to "the hatchet" for our second overnight.
Our first stop on our tour after a month in the Misawa region was at Meiji Jingu Shrine, located in Tokyo. It is dedicated to the spirits of Emperor Meiji (1852-1912) and his consort, Empress Shoken. The shrine was completed in 1920, eight years after the emperor’s death, and is set in a lush, forested area spanning around 170 acres.
Emperor Meiji played a crucial role in Japan’s modernization during the Meiji Restoration, which transformed Japan into a major world power. The original structure was destroyed during World War II but was rebuilt and reopened in 1958.
Torii Gates
A torii is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred, and a spot where kami (spirits) are welcomed and thought to travel through. Torii gates were traditionally made from wood or stone, but today they can be also made of reinforced concrete, stainless steel and other materials. They are usually either unpainted or painted vermilion. Shrines of Inari, the kami of fertility and industry, typically have many torii because those who have been successful in business often donate torii in gratitude.
Torii gates come in many different sizes, depending on the size of the shrine. Above are some small ones we found along neighborhood streets. They would have been easy to walk past and not even see. These were all in Kyoto.
Wakamiya Inari Shrine, Kazamaura, Aomori Prefecture. This one was in the neighborhood of our ryokan (hotel) when we went up into "the hatchet" part of Aomori Prefecture to see Osorezan.
Fushimi Inari-taisha is the head shrine of the kami Inari, located in Kyoto. The shrine sits at the base of a mountain, and includes trails up the mountain to many smaller shrines. Inari is the kami of rice and agriculture, but merchants also worship Inari as the patron of business. Each of Fushimi Inari-taisha's roughly 10,000 torii were donated by a Japanese business, and approximately 800 of these are set in a row to form the Senbon Torii, creating the impression of a tunnel. The shrine is said to have ten thousand such gates in total that designate the entrance to the holy domain of kami and protect it against wicked forces.
This is the gate to Chureito Pagoda near Mt. Fuji.
We were on our way to our second overnight excursion from Misawa when we drove past this gate. We u-turned and discovered one of our favorite shrines of the trip. Just when you think they can't get any better...
Not sure of the name of this one, Misawa.
This is the entrance to Towada Shrine, found on the banks of Towada Lake, 30 minutes from Misawa. We went to the shrine after a day paddle boarding on the lake.
This gate is at the busy Nishiki Market, a set of streets full of shops in Kyoto.
Itsukushima Shrine, is a Shinto shrine on the island of Itsukushima (popularly known as Miyajima), and is best known for its "floating" torii. It is in the city of Hatsukaichi, in Hiroshima Prefecture. We took a ferry from the mainland. The shrine complex is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Kabushima Shrine in Hachinohe, 20 minutes from Misawa. Thanks to the hill it survived the 2011 tsunami.
Kehi Shrine, Misawa. This is the first shrine we rode our bikes to on our first full day in the north.
We did a day-trip to Nanbu in search of the Kushihiki Hachimangu Shrine.
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I love how different Japan is than the places we live in here in the US.
Love this brings back lots of happy memories thankyou Vicki
Love reading about all these places. They are all so interesting. I especially liked the path pictures!