It’s at times like this that one understands why Kyoto has been voted the most popular destination on earth by readers of Time Inc’s Travel and Leisure Magazine. We’re in the midst of the Gion Festival, between the first … Read the rest
Category: Kyoto shrines (Page 11 of 28)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIry8Dz43SI
Hotly recommended youtube video of a NHK World programme about shrine fittings and decorations. It may not seem exciting, but for anyone with a sense of craftsmanship, it’s quite riveting. The documentary is part of an excellent series called … Read the rest
Yes indeed, it’s July 1 and for Kyoto it’s the beginning of the month-long Gion Festival, dubbed one of Kyoto’s Big Three (along with Aoi and Jidai Matsuri). It’s one of Japan’s oldest and biggest affairs, and there are many … Read the rest
The first place I turned to in an attempt to get to the bottom of the Oiwa mystery was Fushimi Inari Shrine, since the Inari connection seemed so strong. However, one of the shrine staff assured us by telephone that … Read the rest
At the Fushimi-ku Fukakasa Ward Office, I enquired whether they knew anything about Oiwa Jinja. The offices are not very far away from Oiwa Hill, some fifteen minutes by car, so I presumed they’d know about such a striking abandoned … Read the rest
The main part of Oiwa Jinja is the upper section, for it contains the sanctuary with altar and goshintai (spirit-body) of large and small rock. As far as I could tell, this was elemental Shinto as it used to be … Read the rest
It’s not often you get to play Indiana Jones, but that’s how it felt on a recent excursion to the overgrown Oiwa Jinja for there is something of the feel of Angkor Wat about the abandoned shrine. Oddly, after more … Read the rest