Kiyomizudera temple and Jishu-jinja shrine

One of the must-visit places in Japan is the Kiyomizudera temple (yet another Unesco World Heritage) in Kyoto. We took a taxi and alighted at the small historic street through Ninen-zaka (二年坂), Sannen-zaka (三年坂) and Kiyomizu-zaka (清水坂), before finally reaching Kiyomizu-dera. On side note, we were amazed to encounter taxi drivers in their 90s during our two taxi rides in Kyoto. It was pretty unbelievable as the elderly drivers still looked very fit and healthy. Most elderly people in Japan chose work instead of retirement to keep their bodies, lifestyles and mind active. I had a lot of respect for their undying spirit. 

The distance was further than we expected and the beauty of the historic street was overshadowed by massive crowds. It will be best to avoid visiting during the weekends, spring breaks and the golden week.

Once we passed through the Nio-mon gate, the main gate at Kiyomizu-dera, we saw the beautiful and stunning triple scarlet tower. 

It's known as the Pagoda of Kiyomizu-dera.

Around the Pagoda, there were countless of perfect views to snap with our cameras.

Just before we went into the main hall, there was a popular Buddhist attraction that always draws large crowds.

At the Tainai-meguri (a Tour of the Womb), visitors can experience an unusual type of shrine visit that takes approximately five minutes and costs only ¥100. As it was overly crowded, we decided to skip this interesting shrine much to my regret. It is known as the shrine of rebirth as visitors will be taken underground below the hall into the womb of the Bosatsu (a female Bodhisattva with the ability to grant wishes) which is completely dark inside. Once inside, visitors can make a prayer and when reached above ground to see the sunlight again, it will give a feeling of being reborn.

Moving on to the main attraction, we are required to pay a small fee of 300 yen each to enter the Kiyomizu Temple. It was so crazily crowded that we didn't want to stay in the main hall for long but once we reached the platform at the point where it sticks out the most, through the mountains, we were able to see views of the town areas in Kyoto. 

As we walked further, we were able to take photos of the temple from the front.

What a beautiful breath taker...

There are places directly below the platform where we were able to gaze up to admire to this amazing structure. The splendid wooden framework that can be seen above the Kiyomizu platform has actually been constructed using a very special technique that does not use a single nail (/❛o❛\)!

After we have visited the amazing Kiyomizudera Temple, we found ourselves at the entrance of the Jishu-jinja shrine which is a very popular spot for those people wanting to make a wish for love and marriage or try a a bit of love fortune-telling.

I was surprised that we found quite a number of things to do in the Jishu-jinja shrine despite it being smaller in scale. 

Firstly, we did some fortune-telling...

I got a 吉 which means good fortune! 

I am in luck this year (∩˃o˂∩)♡.

My dear, however, wasn't so lucky. His fortune said that he would be very busy with work which was shockingly accurate as he had spent many nights working overtime before we went to Japan though I was very proud of his career progression and accomplishment. 

Still, it wasn't a good fortune thus he got to attach his fortune paper here to remove the bad luck.

Getting love charms is a MUST for me whenever we visit a love shrine in Japan. The pair of love charms displayed at the top right is for the blessing of deepening relationship (meant for couple) while the lucky coin at the left corner is to bring in wealth. The love charm at the bottom is for singles finding love which I got it for my friend. 

As we proceeded further into the shrine, we realized that there are several types of deities who we can pray to make our wishes come true. It is said that there are no wishes you can not make true if you pray here.

The most famous one would be the love stones. 

There are two big stones placed facing each other in the area of Jishu Jinja Shrine. Those two stones are called “Love fortune-telling stones“. They stand six meters apart. There is a myth that goes: if you can reach from one stone to another with your eyes shut, then you are going to find your true love. However, if someone help you, by shouting directions for instance, then you will find love only through the help of another. The challenge is popular so it's not uncommon to see locals and foreigners threading their way through the crowd blindly with arms outstretched. I didn't do the challenge since I have already found my prince charming (♡ >ω< ♡).

Right near the entrance of the Jishu Jinja Shrine, we spotted a small red building known as the  Kurimitsu Inari shrine. The deity, Kurimitsu Inari, solves your business and family problems. So, if you have any wish related to your job, please pray here.

Nade daikoku-san is a touchable deity. There are not many deities you can touch in Japan. So it is quite unique.  After tossing coins into the offering box, bowing and making a wish, visitors are supposed to rub the statue for extra boost of good luck *spam pats*. 

Okage Myōjin is the deity who protects women. It is also famous for being the deity who will make any of your wishes come true. So if you have one special wish, do pray here.

The Jishu-jinja shrine is also known for being the Cupid of Japan and it's not hard to see why. Whether you are finding love or not, it's a really interesting place to visit with many things to do. I don't see why anyone won't drop by a place that will make love and wishes come true.

♥ Ashley ♥

Minoh / Minoo Park

I'm not exactly adventurous but I adore nature, especially those that can be found in Japan, so Minoh Park was listed under one of the top places I had to visit during our stay in Japan. It is easily reached by a 30 minute train ride from Umeda in Osaka city on the Hankyu Takarazuka Line. We got off at the Ishibashi Station and transfer to the Hankyu Minoo Line to Minoo Station. The journey to Minoo Station was a quiet and peaceful one.

I guess most tourists prefer shopping in high-rise buildings over hiking and mountain climbing.

The weather at Minoh Park was chilly cold that day but the residents there did make the place a whole lot warmer for us. Once we reached Minoo Station, a resident approached us as we were clearly looking lost when we realized the information counter was closed. She directed us on where to go and answered to our questions while smiling warmly at us the whole time. She told us that Minoh is a beautiful place and that she hoped we would enjoy ourselves there. 

We most certainly did and couldn't agree more on its untouched beauty.

However, before we embarked on our journey, we stopped by a small cafe along the peaceful town for lunch.

The food wasn't fantastic but the cafe owner was sure thoughtful and creative.

The coffee art that the owner did for the both of us. 

He told us that it was an image of my dear and me (Ɔ ˘⌣˘)♥(˘⌣˘ C)! 

かわいいでしょ?!

Isn't it cute?!!!

That was simply so sweet of him. I couldn't bear to drink it as it was the first time someone made a coffee art for us and I felt sinful for ruining something this cute! To appreciate it more, I kept staring at it as we finished our meal.

We thanked the owner and started our one hour long hike up the mountain. Unlike the parks found in Singapore, Minoh park is as big as an island. It consists of hot springs, spas, resorts, hotels, mountains, insect museum, 3500 species of insects, temples, 1300 species of trees, rivers, and our final destination, the majestic Mino Waterfall.

The journey up to the waterfall took us approximately an hour with plenty of amazing sight of nature to see.

Along the way, we visited a small temple.

It was so serene and quiet there.

During our hike, we witnessed plenty of old Japanese folks and residents going up to the waterfall with ease. Some of them were jogging while others were walking in leisure pace. I am embarrassed to say that most of them just bypassed us effortlessly. Either we were going too slowly or the elders in Japan are way too fit. No matter what, I have great respect for the seniors there for their lively spirit and healthy lifestyle.

It was freezing cold at Minoh that afternoon till we could not even feel our hands and legs, but the coldness was nothing compared to the scenic view like this.

Finally, after an hour of leisure walk, we reached the Mino Waterfall!

It was as though we reached heaven. I swear that this is how I picture heaven to look like.

We spent some quiet time sitting near the waterfall and appreciating its great beauty. I was wondering how nice it would be if I could just build a house at that spot and stay there.

This end our first hiking experience together. We felt like we had unlocked an achievement -- and such a beautiful one. Even though we ended up with aching legs, it was all worth it. Minoo Park is such a therapeutic place to be which I am sure that no nature lovers will regret visiting. 

♥ Ashley ♥

Nara Park and the Bowing Deers

I was really looking forward for the day we were to visit Nara. Being an animal lover, I couldn't resist not going to a place where deer get to roam freely while visitors are allowed to get close and personal with them. The story of the Nara's deer is a long one, dating back to the 9th century when the deer are considered as a symbol of good luck. According to Shinto tradition, the deer are sacred messengers of gods and killing one during ancient times was a crime punishable by death. Now, they are considered as national treasures and roamed freely at Nara Park.

Today, there are more than 1,200 deer in Nara Park which makes Nara the place I want to live in. I envy the residents there as they get to wake up everyday with the opportunity to be with the deer. 

As we walked around the park, we saw deer of various sizes, ages and temperament. 

Though the deer there are clearly tamer than those in the wild, we shouldn't be fooled by their cute appearance as some of them can be pretty aggressive towards the tourists and even among each other especially when competing for food.

Here's a video of an adult deer trying to shove away another juvenile deer which my dear was initially feeding.

If you want to be popular among the deer, for less than 200 yen, you can buy a pack of deer crackers to feed them. The Nara deer have not only gotten used to the presence of tourists, they even see them as a source of food. They don't only go after the crackers, they love ice cream cones, papers, and even buttons! 

Yes, buttons!

My dear had one of his button bitten off from his shirt by an impatient deer pestering him for crackers. It will be wise to protect your buttons especially when you are around those deer that gather around Deer Crackers vendors. They plan to mob whoever that buys crackers. Surprisingly, the only people they do not attack or pester are the vendors which makes no sense because they can just rampage the carts or stores to grab all the crackers and food. Despite their aggressiveness, none of the deer we fed bit our fingers. As a matter of fact, they would carefully avoid nibbling our hands which was something we found amazing.

Aside from the more aggressive deer, there are plenty of gentle ones with a whole lot of good manners that we could learn from. The most interesting thing about Nara deer is that they have learnt to bow to visitors for treat or to anyone who bow to them. 

It took us by absolute surprise that even the deer in Japan are polite! It remains a mystery why the deer will bow to visitors. Some people say that during the Heian Period, Fujiwara clan nobles would get off of their carriage and bow to the deer as they are believed to be a sign from the gods and good omen. The deer, imitating the human behavior, evolved through generation and generation learnt to bow back expecting for food. The younger deer simply learnt to bow seeing their parents bow. After spending hours in the park, we realized that the older deer are the most well-mannered while the younger ones rarely bowed and would even get a little aggressive. 

Another interesting thing to note is that  none of the adult male deer have antlers. Stag horns are deliberately cut at Deerhorn Cutting ceremony in Nara Park held every October. It may seems cruel as we had witnessed many adult deer bleeding from their cut antlers, but it was absolutely necessary to protect visitors as well as valuable cultural properties from being damaged by bucks’ horns. It also protects the deers themselves, from injuring or killing each other during fights. Overall, the ceremony has helped establish a long history of humans and deer being able to live together without injury.

Besides feeding the deer, the park is also a great place to relax and walk around with one or two deer following you. Covering around 600 hectares, it extends about 4 kilometre wide and 2 kilometres deep making it the biggest municipal park in Japan. 

The park has spacious lawns and many beautiful trees which are even more spectacular during the blossom season around late March and early April where the sakura cheery blossom and Japanese Andromeda are very beautiful. It had always been a dream of mine to view these pink beauty from their origin; therefore, I considered Nara to be a special place for me as I got to experience my first sakura sighting there. Moreover, I learnt that while most varieties of the Sakura tree produce light pink to white blossoms, but there are also cherry trees with dark pink, yellow or green blossoms. 

Furthermore, the color of some cherry blossoms may change while they are in bloom. For example, a blossom may open as a white flower and change color to pink over the course of a few days.

The park is a magnificent place to see some of the history of Japan, many of the shrines and temples including the amazing five storey pagoda called the Sarusawe-ike.

 The Kofukuji Temple which is a world heritage building.

Another UNESCO World Heritage site that we visited is the Kasuga Grand Shrine.

The long pathway towards the shrine is a filled with greenery and of course, deer. The natural setting is a purposeful part of the sacred site, since Shinto is rooted in nature.

The main entrance to the shrine is through the Minamimon (South Gate)

and past the Temizuya (water fountain and basin), where it is customary to wash your hands.

The shrine itself features vermilion-colored pillars and an astounding 3,000 stone and bronze lanterns which were donated over the years by common people as tokens of faith and thankfulness, and used to be lit every night. Now they are only lit a few days each year.

I bought this beautiful love charm which main aim is to help find true love for my good friend from the shrine. 

We also visited the Himuro Shrine (水室神社) which is located directly across the street from the Nara National Museum. 

This little shrine is dedicated to the God of Ice. While the shrine has been passed over by travel guides and tended to be overshadowed by the much bigger temples found all over Nara, it is famous for its magnificent arrangement of weeping cherry blossom. The major weeping cherry tree standing in front of the main hall is believed to lead the mountain Gods down to the area. 

I must say that this particular sakura tree is one of the most beautiful bloomers I saw during my entire trip.

For me, this shrine is all about the Sakura trees. If you happen to be in Nara during spring, don't forget to drop by Himuro shrine to stare at the magnificent weeping sakura tree and for a quick photoshoot. It's right next to the deer-filled heart of Nara Park - with all these beautiful pink blossoms that the shrine has to offer during spring, it's pretty impossible to miss from afar. 

I'm going to end my post with selfies taken with an old stag that allowed me to take photos with him.

To show my gratitude, I gave this stag a cracker and in return,  he bowed his head a few times while looking at me in the eyes with a smile. I was left with an unforgettable experience and can't find a single reason why anyone will choose to skip this extraordinary place that only Nara can offer. I will, without a doubt, visit it again. Nara is definitely one of the rare places on earth that I will never be bored of.

(To get to Nara from Osaka, the easiest way is to get off at Tennoji Station. From there, you can access to Nara Station in approximately 30 minutes.)

♥ Ashley ♥