Outlining a Typical Day of Touring

ON THE ROAD WITH THE THIRTY-TWO (AND THEIR EARPHONE GUIDES)

Our first day on tour we concentrated on gaining some basic understanding of the role of religion in Japanese society, culture and the fine arts, focusing on representative examples of both Buddhism (imported originally from China) and Shinto (the empire’s indigenous religious tradition) as found within the small city of Nara, Japan’s first permanent capital (764 – 784).

We began at Todaiji, the largest wooden building on earth, designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Built initially in the eighth century, this Buddhist temple illustrates, in both its architecture and imagery, numerous characteristics and concepts associated with the practice of Buddhism in Japan. We walked to and from the temple complex through the famous local Deer Park; no one, however, stopped to feed the small Chinese deer we encountered everywhere we turned ...

Next we visited Kasuga Jinja, a Shinto shrine dedicated to the divine ancestors of the aristocratic Fujiwara family, the second most important lineage in Japan after the Imperial line itself.

KASUGA JINJA SHRINE LANTERNS

Particularly noteworthy throughout this religious complex were the numerous stone and bronze lanterns dedicated to the shrine by grateful adherents. We also slipped in to small shrine museum along the way for a brief visit to a special exhibition of Japanese swords.

After a delicious lunch at a restaurant run by the Nara Hotel (one of the oldest Western hotels in Japan, dating back to the nineteenth century), we concluded our exploration of these two religious belief systems with a stop at the Kofukuji Treasure House Museum where we were able to see some of the most important Buddhist sculptures in Japan, many dating back centuries. We also encountered our first pagoda here.

MASAE-SAN EXPLAINS THE ORIGIN AND PURPOSE OF THE BUDDHIST PAGODA

We then journeyed by Limited Express train to Kyoto, about an hour away, where we now are housed for the next four nights at the Hotel Fujita on the banks of the Kamogawa, the river running through the city center from north to south.

Our Welcome Dinner this evening was taken at the hotel’s Steak House, a most elegant and stylishly setting, its subdued atmosphere much appreciated after our very FULL and SATISFYING first day in Japan.