Aoi Matsuri and Byodo-in

Classes ended this Wednesday, leaving with me time to explore some of the remaining things that I still wanted to see around Kansai. It's hard to believe they're over already, since I kind of feel like I just got here a few weeks ago. I can still remember the orientation week so clearly. Anyway, I will write about that more later.

Last Saturday the 15th was Aoi Matsuri, one of Kyoto's 3 great yearly festivals. Aoi Matsuri, or the Hollyhock Festival, originated in the Heian Era in the mid-sixth century as a prayer from the emperor to the gods for a bountiful harvest. It begins at the old Imperial Palace in Kyoto, passes through the Shimogamo shrine, and ends at the Kamigamo shrine, and includes 2 oxcarts, 4 cows, 36 horses, and 600 people, all dressed in traditional Heian-style clothes. The feature of the procession is the Saio-Dai, traditionally supposed to be a sister or daughter of the Emperor, but now is just an unmarried woman living in Kyoto (I wonder how they select her?), who supposedly wears 12 layers of Heian-style clothes. There were also people dressed as archers, women in colorful kimonos, and people carrying big containers of I don't know what. The reason for the hollyhock leaves tucked into their hats is that they were once thought to protect from natural disaster.

I thought the festival was somewhat interesting. Since it fell on a sunny Saturday this year, it was incredibly crowded when we got there at 11:45 along the entire street that we went to, so there were about 2 layers of people in front of me, and I couldn't see that much. After awhile I got more aggressive about holding my camera high up into the air so I could actually see what was going on. Also my shoulders got sunburnt. Seeing the fancy robes and oxcarts and things was quite interesting, although there was not actually a lot going on since they were just walking silently (there were no drums or flutes or anything like you might expect). Still I'm glad I got to see it.



The woman representing the emperor--the most important person of the procession






People from the procession


Yesterday, I went to the city of Uji with my friend Mieko to see the famous Byodo-in temple. Byodo-in is one of Japan's national treasures and is featured on the 10 yen coin, and was one of the last famous spots around Kyoto that I hadn't gotten to visit yet.

Byodo-in is located in the city of Uji, a 10-minute train ride from the main Keihan line that runs between Osaka and Kyoto. It sits along the Uji River, and is particularly famous for its green tea. (I read on Wikipedia that the Tsuen tea shop, Japan's oldest tea shop, is located there. Who knew.) It was mostly a really nice, green, traditional-looking town with far too many shops that attracted me to spend money. (I got a new umbrella!) I want to go back there again.


Picture from one of the world's oldest surviving bridges in Uji

The Tale of Genji, written by Shikibu Murasaki in the early 11th century and considered to be the world's first novel, has its final chapters in Uji, thus the statue of Lady Murasaki.



Statue of Lady Murasaki, author of The Tale of Genji

Byodo-in, as previously mentioned, is a very famous Pure Land Buddhist temple. It was built in the mid-11th century by Fujiwara Yorimichi, advisor to the Emperor, in the year that was believed to be the beginning of humanity's decline (Mappo). Its main building is the Phoenix Hall (named for the 2 phoenixes on the roof), housing a statue of the Amida, the Buddha who leads people to the Pure Land after their death. That statue on its own is also considered a national treasure, meaning I couldn't photograph it, but it was really impressive, all covered in gold leaf, and when I saw it I recognized from a picture I had to write about in Japanese history. Around the Phoenix Hall was a really beautiful garden, and a museum about the temple that showed what it looked like when it was newer.



Entrance to Byodo-in's garden

Byodo-in is notable not only for the one big statue of Amida, but also for the 52 wood carvings of Worshiping Bodhisattvas on Clouds. They are carvings of humans who have reached enlightenment and are now helping others to do the same, and they ride on floating clouds, dancing or playing instruments.

We decided to pay extra to visit the inside of the Phoenix Hall and see the Amida statue. Since it is so old, even though it's been restored, it's still in pretty bad shape. Mieko told me that part of the problem is that during the war, a lot of homeless people came and lived inside of the hall, leading to a lot of wear and graffiti, on top of the regular fading that would naturally occur over time.



The Phoenix Hall


Tomorrow is the program's graduation ceremony. Since most people have only been here for a semester, it seems a little silly to me to have such a formal ceremony, but on the other hand it does give me my one chance to wear a kimono. I asked my host mother to help me, and so she borrowed a pink kimono from a friend for me to wear, and tomorrow morning I'm going to go have a professional woman help me put it on. The stereotype is of Japanese women wearing kimonos all the time, but putting them on is actually really difficult. There are a ton of pieces, and kimonos are designed so that one kimono will fit pretty much everyone, but unfortunately that means that it takes a long time to put them on and adjust them so that they fit just right. I will make sure to take pictures!

12 days left in Japan!