Everyone had told me that if I had a chance to go to Kyoto for a few days that I had to go to Nara for at least a day. Therefore, I had set aside this 3rd day of my trip for Nara. That way, if I really liked Nara, I could visit it also on the last day. Otherwise, I could just finish with Nara in one day. Nara was about a 50 minute local train ride from Kyoto station, and was a nice way to get a look at the architecture of the towns in the Kansai (the name of this area of Japan). Hokkaido is full of more modern style buildings in the small towns and are built for cold weather and snow. However, the buildings down here were more varied and were full of very old style Japanese roofs and such.
Nara was Japan's first real capital. Up until the 7th century Japan had no permanent capital, since Shinto taboos stated that the capital must be moved every time the emperor dies and a new one is installed. However, with the intorduction of Buddhism, this practice faded out and Nara was established as the capital in 710. It only remained as the capital for 75 years. This was because a Nara priest had tried to seduce an empress and therefore try to take over the throne. It was decided after this event to move the capital to Kyoto, and away from some of the powerful clergy of the Nara area.
Nowadays, Nara remains as a symbol of old Japan and contains lots of grand old temples and shrines. The bulk of the sights in Nara is centered around Nara-koen (Nara Park). Found throughout the park are, of all things, deer. Lots and lots of deer. They're quite used to humans and have no problems walking right up to people and looking to see if you have bought any shika sembei (deer crackers) from the various vendors in the park to feed them.
Enjoying the shade	Some pointers about how to handle the deer in the park
Some of the children being snacked upon...I mean, giving snacks
This is part of Kofuku-ji (Kofuku Temple). This temple was moved from Asuka when Nara became the capital. It was kinda dusty *cough* *cough*, so I didn't stay here too long.
One of the biggest attractions in Nara is Todaiji Temple. This World Heritage Site was founded by Emperor Shomu to enshrine the Great Image of Buddha. It was finished in 752, but was destroyed by fires twice. The Daibustu-Den hall (pictured further below) was rebuilt in 1692, scaled down from the original by two-thirds. Nevertheless, it is still the largest wooden building in the world.
Visiting this temple was another of the more awe-inspiring moments of my trip. The picture above is of the first gate into the temple. I was walking through the gate and then happened to look to the side and nearly jumped out of my skin. On either side under the gate were these huge wooden statues. They really freaked me out. There was a wire mesh in front of them to protect them, so my pictures didn't turn out very good, so I put my own pictures below, followed by scanned postcards on the following line.
They are called Kongorikishi, or Guardians	They are the largest pair of wooden statues of their kind in Japan
8.42 meters tall (27.6 ft)	8.45 meters tall (27.7 ft)
This is the entrance to the inner temple grounds	This is the Daibutsu Den Hall, which is the central building and houses a giant Buddha statue
Walking in this courtyard made me feel like I was back in time or in some grand Japanese or Chinese epic movie, like The Last Emperor
This is the Daibutsu (Great Buddha) statue inside the main hall. It was cast in 746 and is one of the largest brone figures in the world. It is 16 meters tall (52.5 ft) and contains 437 tons of bronze and 130 kg (286 lbs) of gold. It is believed that Emperor Shomu ordered the construction of this Buddha to ward of the smallpox that were ravaging Japan at the time. Apparantly, its head has fallen off a few times due to fires or earthquakes and had to be cast back on the body.
This is one of the statues behind the Daibutsu	A little scary...
This hole is the same size as one of the Daibutsu's nostrils	It is a belief that anyone who can squeeze through this hole will be guranteed enlightenment. Needless to say, I didn't feel like having to deal with the fire department, so I didn't try it myself.
Continuing around Nara-koen, I came to Kasuga Taisha Shrine. This shrine was founded in the 8th century by the powerful Fujiwara family and was rebuilt every 20 years according to Shinto tradition, until the end of 19th century.
Lining the path to the main entrance of the shrine are literally hundered of lanterns. There are lantern festivals held here twice a year where they light the lanterns, but unfortunately I was not there at teh right time to see it.
I just happened to be in Kyoto and Nara during the Shichi-Go-San Festivals (literally "7-5-3"). This is a Shinto tradition where boys of age 5 and girls of age 3 and 7 get all dressed up in traditional kimonos and are taken to shrines to have their health and fortune prayed for. Let me tell you, there's nothing cuter than Japanese children decked out in kimonos...
I snuck into the background to get this family shot while they were posing for someone else	A little camera shy...
They grow up so quickly... <sniffle>	Shinto priests performing prayer rituals
It took her parents forever to get her to pose for this picture	Baby Deer nearby
These two work for the shrine, but I don't know their formal title	It was pretty peaceful in this spot
Shortly after lunchtime, I decided that I was finished with Nara and that I wanted to head back to Kyoto. There was only one site in Southern Kyoto that I really wanted to visit, and since it was on the train ride back from Nara, I decided to stop there. I got off the train and headed to Inrai Taisha (Shrine).
Inari shrines are full of images of foxes. The fox is involved in many stories in Japanese folklore and is thought to have magical powers.	Rrrr...
Part of what Inari Taisha is famous for is its rows and rows and rows of torii (gates) that work their way up the 4 km hike up the hill. Most of the patrons of Inari Taisha are merchants and traders. When they do well in their business endeavors, they buy torii and donate them to the shrine with their name or business's name carved into the torii. It was truly amazing to see so many of these orange gates leading on seemingly endlessly up the hill.
One of the larger torii near the entrance	Going up the hill...
It was an extremely pleasant little walk/hike for the afternoon	There were lots of smaller shrines along the way up the hill
One of the water fonts for cleansing yourself (or getting liquid refreshment)	I played with this black cat as I took a rest along the way
Within the precints was another kind of shrine. I don't know much about it, except that it had red torii...	...and frogs instead of foxes.
Visiting Inari Taisha was such a good move on my part. I spent the entir afternoon there walking up and down the hill, visiting the little shrines along the way, looking at the old and new torii, and just enjoying the time to myself. If you have the opportunity to visit Kyoto and you enjoying walking, you have to visit this spot.
I slept like a rock that night.