Sanjusangen-do

This article is based on a visit made on Friday, 18 November 2016.

Rengeo-in (蓮華王院, Rengeō-in, lit. 'Temple of the Lotus King') is the official name of a particular Buddhist temple in southeastern Kyoto.  It is better known, however, as Sanjusangen-do (三十三間堂, Sanjūsangen-dō, lit. 'thirty-three-span hall'), named after the length of its main hall, measured as 33 spans between pillars.  (Its actual length is 120 meters, or 393 feet.)  Visitors to the temple may walk through the length of the hall and back around, passing over a thousand gilded Buddhist statues along the way.

Which do you think gets across the length of the building better: the straight angle shot at the top of this article, or this panorama shot here?  To view this picture in full size, click here.

The temple's main claim to fame lies within its halls, and I'll get to that in due time, but there's more to it than that.  In the temple grounds, the main hall stands side-by-side with a wide courtyard, in which there are a few landscaped ponds like this.

This is the same pond, from the other side.

The main hall is made of unpainted wood, but other vermillion-hued buildings inject some colour into the complex, such as the outer walls and this bell tower.

Photography is not allowed inside the temple halls, so sadly I do not have my own pictures of its many statues.  If you can navigate the temple's website (linked at the end of this article), which is only offered in Japanese, there are a few pictures to give you an idea.  On top of that, there are a small number of pictures available from Wikimedia Commons, so I will be using them to illustrate my descriptions.

By Bamse [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], from Wikimedia Commons

The central icon of this temple is a giant gilded statue of Kannon, the Buddhist saint (Boddhisatva) of compassion.  Specifically, the variant represented here is the Thousand-Armed Kannon (千手観音, Senju Kan'non).  There is a legend of how Kannon came to possess so many extra arms and heads.  She sought to relieve all the suffering in the world and free everybody from the cycle of reincarnation, but her task was too daunting, and her head and arms were shattered into pieces for her efforts.  But, thanks to the Buddha, she was then given eleven heads to hear all the cries of suffering, and a thousand arms to help those in need.

The actual number of arms in depictions of the Thousand-Armed Kannon varies; here it is forty-two, including its two original arms.  Multiplying the forty extra arms by the 25 planes of existence in Buddhist belief will tally up to a thousand.  (Then again, everything I've been able to Google on the subject tells me there are 31 planes of existence, so I don't know... but to be fair, you try sculpting a statue with a thousand arms.)  The figure itself is 3.34 metres (11 feet) tall, and the entire statue, including the base and back pieces, is 7 metres (23 feet) tall.

By Tamamura Kozaburo ([1]) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

On either side of the central statue are rows of many smaller, but still life-sized, statues of  the Thousand-Armed Kannon.  There are five hundred of these on either side.  Like their big sister, each of these statues has 42 actual arms.

By Nara National Museum 奈良帝室博物館 (Showa 8 - 1933) (1933 奈良帝室博物館 volume on Japanese sculpture) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Complementing the many, many Kannons are statues of 28 other Buddhist deities.  They stand in the front rows of all the statues, as if guarding them.  For example, the one shown above is Kissho-ten or Kichijo-ten (吉祥天), the goddess of happiness, beauty, and fertility.  She is derived from the Hindu goddess Lakshmi, as Buddhism itself evolved from Hinduism before spreading from India to China and eventually Japan.  She also pulls double-duty as one of the Seven Lucky Gods of Shinto.

Finally, this is a map of the Keihan train line, which I took at their nearby Shichijo station.  The cute archer girl in the lower-right corner represents the Toshiya (通し矢, Tōshi-ya, lit. 'target-hitting arrows') archery competition, which I will describe below.

By 哥川豊春 Toyoharu Utagawa (From here) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

This is an 18th-century ukiyo-e (woodblock print) depiction of the Toshiya, as it was held in the Edo period.  Back then, four events were held as part of the Toshiya: 1) the Hyaku-i (百射, lit. 'one hundred shots'), where archers competed to land the most shots out of 100, 2) the Sen-i (千射, lit. 'one thousand shots'), the same, but with 1,000 arrows, 3) the Hiyakazu (日矢数, lit. 'number of arrows in a day'), where archers competed to land the most shots in 12 hours, and 4) the Oyakazu (大矢数, Ōyakazu, lit. 'great number of arrows'), the same, but over 24 hours!  The standing Oyakazu record was set in 1686, in which the archer fired 13,053 arrows, an average of 9 arrows a minute, and landed 8,133 (62.3%) of them!

No machine-readable author provided. Peter 111 assumed (based on copyright claims). [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The Toshiya was officially abandoned in 1861, but it exists in a different form to this very day.  In the modern Toshiya, girls from all over the country line up in the courtyard of Sanjusangen-do, and loose arrows at a target 60 metres (197 feet) away.  It is held on the second Sunday in January, roughly coinciding with Coming-of-Age Day, a traditional holiday honouring boys and girls who have turned 20 years old.  I completely missed the Toshiya festival, but it is worthwhile to visit Sanjusangen-do at any time of the year.  A thousand statues is a huge number, and spending so much time just walking past them, in such a quiet atmosphere, is an awe-inspiring experience!

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Hours: Open 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, or 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM from 16 November to 31 March.  Admission ends 30 minutes before closing time.  No regular closing days.

Costs: ¥600.

Address: 657 Sanjūsangen-dō Mawari, Higashiyama-ku, Kyōto-shi, Kyōto-fu 〒605-0941

Access: From Kyoto Station, take bus #86 (stand D2), #88 (D23), #100 (D1), #110 (D1), #206 (D2), or #208 (D2) and get off at the Hakubutsukan Sanjusangendo-mae stop (10 minutes, ¥230).

Kiyomizu-dera can also be reached on foot in 5 minutes from Shichijo Station, on the Keihan Main line (KH), or in 20 minutes from Kyoto Station.

Website: (Japanese)

Kyoto International Manga Museum

This article is based on a visit made on Friday, 18 November 2016.

Edit 7 October 2019: Updated prices to reflect the increase in Japan's national sales tax.

Over the past several decades, the art of Japanese comic books, known as manga (漫画, lit. 'cartoon pictures'), have become one of the country's most influential cultural exports.  They have readers across all demographics and tell stories across many, many genres.  In fact, most anime series on TV are based on a manga.  And now, they finally have their own museum.  The Kyoto International Manga Museum (京都国際マンガミュージアム, Kyōto Kokusai Manga Myūjiamu) was opened in 2006, in a former elementary school building in downtown Kyoto.

By Peat Bakke [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The main USP (unique selling point) of this museum is its collection of manga books, which may be read freely by guests.  Most of the books were donated by a book rental store which went out of business before this museum was established.  There are a total of 50,000 books across a combined 200 metres (656 feet) of shelves.  The lion's share of the books are in Japanese, but near the entrance, there is a sizable collection of books in other languages, including English, Chinese, Korean, and French.

When the weather is nice, you can even take books out to the courtyard and read them outside!  Just keep them within the admission gates, please.

Even better, on days off from school, you might see fans coming together and cosplaying their favourite characters!  I don't know if this is a regular thing or not, but I sure lucked out in that regard during my first visit!  My second time, not so much; it was a school day, after all.

By Kento Ikeda [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Back indoors, exhibits on the upper floors go into the history and statistics of the manga industry.  One of the more unique exhibits is a collection of plaster casts made from the hands of manga artists!  The museum also hosts temporary exhibitions, plus seminars from Japanese and international artists alike.

By Maplestrip [CC BY 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons

This wall shows some of the tools that manga artists use in their work.  Manga is generally produced in black-and-white.  Using traditional media, the artwork is sketched in pencil, inked, and then screentones are adhered to the page to create textures.  Colours are usually reserved for covers and other promotional illustrations.  Nowadays, artists who use computer programs to produce manga still emulate this process.

One of the temporary exhibits was a showcase on the artist known as Yukiko Tani (谷ゆき子, Tani Yukiko, 1935-1999), who drew stories about ballet during the '60s and '70s.  If that doesn't sound interesting, well, how may other stories about ballet, manga or otherwise, have the heroine training by meditating under a waterfall, or balancing en pointe on the edge of a cliff?  I have to admit, I'm curious to see more!  Surprisingly, there haven't been any stand-alone books made of her works -- that was, until October 2016, which is why this exhibit was set up.

By Kento Ikeda [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The building housing the museum was converted from a former elementary school.  A few rooms from the school have been preserved, such as this tatami-floored room.

The cafe on-site serves a small menu of light meals.  What's interesting about this place is the assortment of sketches drawn on the walls by manga artists.  You know, I personally have dreams of making my own manga comic, but haven't quite had the drive to put my ideas into product.  Maybe the prospect of having my own drawing represented here, be it ever so remote a chance, may inspire me to make my visions into reality...!  Visit the Kyoto International Manga Museum yourself, and see what inspires you!

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Hours: Open 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM.  Admission ends 30 minutes before closing time.  Closed on Mondays and New Year's Day.

Costs: ¥800.

Address: Karasuma-Oike, Nakagyō-ku, Kyōto-shi, Kyōto-fu 〒604-0846

Access: The museum stands above Karasuma-Oike Station, the junction of the Karasuma (K) and Tozai (T) subway lines.  From Kyoto Station, take the Karasuma line to Karasuma-Oike (K08, 5 minutes, ¥220).  The closest station exit is Exit 2.

Website: (English) (Japanese)

Kodai-ji

This article is based on a visit made on Friday, 18 November 2016.

Previously on Sekai Ichi, I took a walk through the Higashiyama district in Kyoto.  An ideal stop along this stroll is Kodai Temple (高台寺, Kōdai-ji, lit. 'tall pedestal temple'), a Zen Buddhist temple.  The temple was built in honour of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣 秀吉 1537-1598), a general who united and ruled Japan at the end of the 16th-century's Warring States period.

The entrance to Kodai-ji is so low-key, you might miss it completely, as indeed I did.  Basically, you're looking for a shallow stone stairway, like this.  This path is called the Nene-no-Michi (ねねの道, lit. 'road of Nene'), and is named after Nene (ねね, 1546-1624), the widow of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.  Nene established Kodai-ji in 1606, in memorial of her late husband.  After her death, her spirit was enshrined at this temple as well.

Chibified versions of Hideyoshi and Nene also serve as the temple's mascots, such as on this multilingual signboard.  If you're still trying to find the entrance, just look for these two.

At the top of those stairs, I came across this hall, known as Kodai-ji Tenman-gu (高台寺天満宮).  My Google-fu, and the suffix "gu", tells me this is a Shinto shrine.  However, it was decorated in the colours of the Buddhist flag, and was surrounded by sutra wheels you can turn with your hands to "read", indicating that it may be a Buddhist installation after all.

The main hall was most recently rebuilt in 1912, after having been destroyed by fire on multiple occasions.  The building also doubles as a small museum, free with admission, which holds a few artifacts and miscellanea related to Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Kodai-ji is a Zen Buddhist temple, a member of the Rinzai school (臨済宗, Rinzai-shū) to be exact, so naturally it has a rock garden.  The field of gravel is meant to represent a vast ocean, and is shaped into different patterns by its caretakers.

The gardens are built around a pair of ponds.  In between them stands a sub-hall, the Kaizan-do (開山堂, lit. 'open mountain hall'), linked on either side by covered bridges.  Nene used to pray for her late husband in this hall.

This stairway wound up through -- you guessed it -- another bamboo grove.  Climbing up this way leads you to the mausoleum of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Nene, and further up, to a pair of tea houses.

There is another way up that hill by way of this covered bridge across the pond, but it was closed to visitors at the time.

I came across this stone dragon head near the foot of the bamboo path.  I wonder what it could have been used for...?

Oh yeah, and Kodai-ji had the best fall colours I saw in Kyoto.  Here are some examples:

This tree, along the Nene-no-Michi entrance, had a splotch of red among the green, like the cherry syrup poured on top of a cup of shaved ice.

The ponds may have been murky, but the surrounding trees made up for it with their own colours.

These trees practically looked like they were on fire!

So did this one.  Actually, looking from afar, the way the lights and shadows played on these leaves, it reminds me of painting or airbrushing techniques.  Speaking of art, join me as I rest a spell at the Kyoto International Manga Museum, next time on Sekai Ichi!

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Hours: Open from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM.  Admission ends 30 minutes before closing time.  No regular closing days.

The temple grounds are open late, to 9:30 PM, for evening illuminations during the spring (late March to early May), summer (1 to 18 August), and autumn (late October to early December) seasons.

Costs: ¥600.

Address: 526-39 Shimogawara-chō, Higashiyama-ku, Kyōto-shi, Kyōto-fu 〒605-0825

Access: From Kyoto Station, take bus #100 (stand D1), #110 (D1), or #206 (D2) and get off at the Higashiyama-Yasui stop (15 minutes, ¥230).  The temple entrance is 5 minutes on foot from the bus stop.

Kodai-ji can also be reached on foot in 15 minutes from Gion-Shijo Station, on the Keihan Main line (KH) (use exit 6), or in 20 minutes from Kawaramachi Station, on the Hankyu Kyoto line (HK) (use exit 1B).

Website: (English) (Japanese)

Higashiyama Walk

This article is based on a visit made on Friday, 18 November 2016.

Previously on Sekai Ichi, I visited Kiyomizu-dera, one of the most famous temples in all of Kyoto.  A natural follow-up for my itinerary was a walk through the Higashiyama district, an historic neighbourhood starting right at the entrance to Kiyomizu-dera.  The name "Higashiyama" (東山) means "east mountain", and indeed the area is located along the mountains to the east of the city.

I started my journey by taking a bus from Kyoto Station to the Gojo-Zaka bus stop, and walking up to Kiyomizu-dera.    Once I was done there, I went back down the hill, but turned right, into the neighbourhoods.  I continued northwards, made a stopover at Kodai-ji temple (which I will describe in a separate article), and wrapped up at Yasaka-jinja shrine.  The map above shows the path I took.  Multiple bus stops serve the Higashiyama district, and are laid out along Higashiyama-dori, the street running along its west side.

This was the scene at the entrance to Kiyomizu-dera.  I take it most of these people were on there way to or from that iconic temple, so you can imagine what it was like over there.

Simply step into one of the side streets, meanwhile, and the crowds thin considerably.  Although if this were, say, cherry blossom season (late March and early April), it might be a different story.  Most of these roads are for pedestrians only, due to their narrowness.  All the better to experience them better, without interruptions!

As part of recent renovations, telephone and electrical wires have all been moved underground, enhancing the olden feel of the neighbourhood.  They still need to have those street signs in place, though, but I can live with that.

There are two sets of stairs you will walk across along the way.  Ninenzaka (二年坂) and Sannenzaka (三年坂, pictured) mean "two-year slope" and "three-year slope" respectively, and are so named because of a superstition.  If you trip and fall on them, you are believed to die in two or three years!  Lucky I didn't fall, then!  (For what it's worth, I've also read differing interpretations of these names, that they were inaugurated in the second and third years of a given imperial era, so make of that what you will.)

As with the approach to Kiyomizu-dera, the shops along these avenues are mostly cafes and gift shops.  There's even a branch of Donguri Republic, the official Studio Ghibli store, nestled in here!  But it wan't open yet when I walked by, so instead, have this selfie I took with the kimono-clad mannequin mascot of a different shop.

This is the Yasaka Pagoda (八坂の塔, Yasaka-no-tō, lit. 'eight-slope pagoda'), the only remaining building of Hokan-ji, a former temple.  Visitors may pay to enter and climb up the tower, which is actually a rare opportunity among pagodas.

Martin Abegglen from Bern, Switzerland [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Another temple in the area is the Ryozen Kannon (霊山観音) temple, whose main building is topped by a giant, 24-metre (78-foot) tall statue of the Buddhist goddess Kannon.  The temple also serves as a memorial for soldiers killed during World War II, both Japanese and overseas alike, including a tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  It slipped my mind to visit, however.  In fact, I wish I could take (or edit) pictures this good!

Higashiyama has many back alleys to explore.  Even if you don't find any place worth visiting, it's still nice to check out the architecture.  In fact, I wonder it would be like to live down here...?  Actually, I imagine it wouldn't be novel for very long, as even such a setting as this would eventually become the new "normal".

Trees were turning yellow all around the place, including over this house's garage.

The main, historically-preserved path starts at Kiyomizu-dera, and ends here, at Yasaka Shrine (八坂神社, Yasaka-jinja).  Pictured here is the dance stage, whose lanterns are lit up every evening.  It is also one of the sites featured in the Gion Matsuri festival in July, where a parade of mikoshi (floats) starts from here on the 17th.  Most of the events that month, however, take place westward, across the Kamo river.

Turning back a ways, this is the alley in front of Kodai-ji Temple, where I made a stopover.  The entrance to this temple was so low-key, I got lost trying to find it, if only briefly.  Find out more about it, next time on Sekai Ichi!

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Access: From Kyoto Station, take bus #86 (stand D2), #100 (D1), #110 (D1), or #206 (D2) to any of the bus stops between Kiyomizu-michi and Gion (15-20 minutes, ¥230).

Donguri Republic: Kiyomizu Shop

Hours: 10:30AM - 6:30PM.  No regular closing days.

Address: 363-22-2 Masuya-chō, Higashiyama-ku, Kyōto-shi, Kyōto-fu 〒605-0826

Website: (Japanese)

Hokan-ji Temple / Yasaka Pagoda

Hours: Open 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.  No regular closing days.

Costs: ¥400

Address: 388 Kiyomizu Yasaka Kami-chō, Higashiyama-ku, Kyōto-shi, Kyōto-fu 〒605-0862

Access: From Kyoto Station, take any of the buses listed above and get off at either the Kiyomizu-michi or Higashiyama Yasui stops (15 minutes, ¥230).  Buses #100 and #110 do not stop at Higashiyama Yasui.  From either stop, the temple is about 4 minutes away on foot.

Ryozen Kannon Temple

Hours: Open 8:40 AM to 4:20 PM.  Admission ends at 4:00 PM.  No regular closing days.

Costs: ¥300

Address: 526-2 Shimokawara-chō, Higashiyama-ku, Kyōto-shi, Kyōto-fu 〒605-0862

Access: From either of the Kiyomizu-michi or Higashiyama Yasui bus stops, as described above, the temple is about 6 minutes away on foot.

Website: (English) (Japanese)