Buddhism – The Engen's Japan Cultural Exhibition 2k18!

Nara, so far is number one on our list for this trip. We highly recommend anyone traveling to Japan staying in Kyoto or Osaka to make sure this is on your itinerary.

Nara was Japan’s first established Capital in year 710. As Buddhism grew and posed a threat to the government the Capital was then moved to Kyoto, which we visited the day prior. Because of the extensive history we knew this had to be on our list to visit, plus deer.

We visited Nara on our own via a recommended site seeing path we obtained from the information center near the Nara JR station. First we walked through the downtown area where you could see their love for the deer that roam free throughout the town.

The next stop was Kofuku-ji Buddhist Temple we went to had an epic spire near Nara Deer Park…oh and deer were there too. These ones were docile compared to the ones at the park, so we bought some wafers and fed them.

Then Kyndra made the mistake of feeding the ones at the park…

The deer were literally all over the city, so you will most likely see them from time to time throughout our Shinto Shrine and Buddhist temple excursion.

Next we walked to Todaiji Temple also known as “The Great Eastern Temple”. This was an incredibly enlightening moment for the both of us. The pictures do not depict enough how massive the Daibutsuden was that housed a 15 meter bronze statue of a seated Daibutsu (Buddha). It was absolutely breathtaking.

From Todaiji we walked the hills of Nara to the Shinto Shrine Kasuga Taisha. Most famous for its hundreds of stone lanterns donated by worshipers that lead the path throughout the park.

Oh and what do you know, more deer. The deer are believed to be messengers from the Shinto Gods and that is why they are considered sacred.

After soaking in the beauty of Nara we headed towards the station to go home, when we spotted an owl cafe that was nearly unoccupied!! It was on our list of things to do in Japan, so it must of been destiny we stumbled upon Wata Wata Owl Cafe in Nara!

Upon entry we were greeted by an English speaking caretaker who introduced us to the owls and the process of interacting with them. We were able to pick one to take pictures with of the many different species they cared for. It was a hard decision but we went with Yuki and Yuri the barn owls because they had an adorable love story and just look how kawaii they are!

FJIMG_20180310_102607.gif.gif — They love each other and hated to be separated!

Well guys, might have rambled a bit again, but Nara is definitely a tough day to beat. We saw some of the most amazing sights in Japan and got to pet freaking owls at an owl cafe!

Kyoto was up next on our list of places to visit and we booked a small group walking tour for a few hours to get a glimpse of as much of the city as we could in one day. The only downside was that it basically rained the entire day, only stopping for brief intervals. However, we made the best of it and plowed through it and it didn’t seem to bother our tour guide Yuta much either!

Kyoto Tower and our first view of the city

Our guide had a few set destinations for us to visit, including various Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples, and some local spots famous to Kyoto. The first thing we did was visit a Shinto shrine and I did a small prayer.

From there we then headed to the Buddhist temple Tōfukuji… One thing that has impressed me is the amount of meticulous dedication to the landscape, architecture, and everything about this area. Every single blade of grass to even the toilet are arranged and placed in the utmost particular way to ensure everything has the appropriate placing to just look good.

At the first temple, our guide paid the fee to get us in and we had to remove our shoes and we got our first close-up view of the intricacy that the Buddhist monks will put into decorating their landscapes with very specific ideas in mind.

From there, we then headed to the Shinto shrine Fushimi Inari Taisha which is famous for its red gates. There were many people vacationing there, and many of the locals and those on vacation liked to dress up in more casual geisha wear.

After exploring the red gates in detail, and viewing many of the ceremonies you can partake in there – we headed to Gion Koubu, one of the geisha districts in Kyoto and one of the most exclusive and popular districts. Unfortunately since it was raining so much, we didn’t get to see any geisha. Our guide did take us to a location where maiko or geisha in training get their hair done, but it was closed at the time we stopped by. For shame.

After that our guide pointed us to the direction of a local bus and we took the bus back to Kyoto station where we could catch a train home. That’s about it for Kyoto! Plenty more pictures below and next is our trip to Nara!