Spot the oddity

Notice anything odd about this photograph?

It’s not the girls posing for a photo, nor the gaijin with a guitar on his back.  It’s the pair of shishsi (Chiinese lion) guardians, which unusually (exceptionally?) have both their mouths open.  The normal practice for the guardians is one open (representing ah, first sound of the alphabet) and one mouth shut (un, the last sound of the alphabet).  They thus symbolise the beginning and end of all things, and in Sanskrit terms equate to A-um i.e. Aum or Om.  All very cosmic, you might say.  So what’s going on here?  Ah-ah….

The pair of shishi (Chinese guardian lions) stand in front of the Kiyomizu complex.  This is Kyoto’s premier tourist sight and one of the most visited places on earth.  According to a tour guide I overheard, the shishi are laughing at all the visitors struggling their way up the slope towards the temple.  Even the one that’s supposed to have its mouth shut is moved to laughter by the exhausted pilgrims.  (On the other hand, I heard a different tour guide tell her group that the shishi was smiling with happiness at the number of visitors making their way to Kiyomizu.)

Either way it’s an intriguing way to begin one’s visit to the temple-shrine complex.  Though I’ve lived in Kyoto for twenty years, I’ve always avoided the tourist trap because of the crowds.  This week I summoned up my courage and, carefully choosing an overcast week day, went to investigate Kyoto’s famous love shrine, Jishu Jinja. More on that anon!

(For further information about guardian shishi, please see http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/shishi.shtml)