ENSHRINED
Sure, we thought Kyoto was pretty much full of shit, and we had a blast essentially destroying Gion (its totemo takai yuppy downtown district), there is undeniably the other side of this historic city: it is home to literally thousands of the most awe inspiring Buddhist and Shinto shrines you have ever witnessed. Some are located directly within the city limits, others off in the hills. The latter were certainly more powerful, tho there is something to be said for those that have survived the rapid urbanization that has been erected around them on all sides. These were the ones we hit first; most memorable was a pure-land temple called Nichi Honganji. Here I am meditating in it, trying to block out the sounds of a jackhammer on the expressway directly to my left and the digidrone of Aaron's sony cybershot (which I immediatly reconfigured to shut the fuck up, after this experience):
While on the subject of urban shrines, I'm going to digress a little, back to Tokyo about a week and change ago when we paid a visit to Yasukuni-jinja, the very controversial shrine where all Japanese war-dead are enshrined as gods. It was a surreal and frightening experience; Aaron chose to wait outside and I can't blame him: in many ways, this place is a celebration of war, and it is unsettling. The controversy lies in the question of whether the Japanese should be paying homage to the very institution which prompted their ancestors to go kamikaze and kill themselves believing (knowing?) that they would become gods at the instant of their deaths. So the question then becomes what does it mean to go to Yasukuni, what are we memorializing in our visits to it. Anyway, if you are interested in hearing more on the international debate about the place, google it, there's TONS of info out there. Otherwise, you can just look at this picture and draw your own conclusion:
Those things on the flags are chrysanthemums, the national symbol of Japan that took on a very different meaning during WWII. Anyway, here are some fish, because they dont give a shit about war, right? Unless...
Anway, back to Kyoto. We finally did make it up to the mountains, where amidst the pouring rain we walked "The Philosopher's Path", saw some really awe insipiring stuff, including an artist collective hidden deep in the woods where Rachel Dobkin's Japanese doppelganger had seemingly rented out an abandoned shrine to line the place with Hot Wheels racetracks and little teeny matchbox cars. It was a mind blower, a conceptual piece whose utter majesty really doesn't come across in my above explanation. Oh well, here's Aaron:
... and here's some more pix from that amazing day....
After that it was off to Osaka, where... well, that's another story (and post[s]), so stay tuned faithful readers, we shall return with more. Needless to say, it will be a return to form (the form being hyphy), as Osaka may very well be the rock-fuck capital of Japan, the best country... ever
PEACE to all my tomodachi! (^_^) Db
Sure, we thought Kyoto was pretty much full of shit, and we had a blast essentially destroying Gion (its totemo takai yuppy downtown district), there is undeniably the other side of this historic city: it is home to literally thousands of the most awe inspiring Buddhist and Shinto shrines you have ever witnessed. Some are located directly within the city limits, others off in the hills. The latter were certainly more powerful, tho there is something to be said for those that have survived the rapid urbanization that has been erected around them on all sides. These were the ones we hit first; most memorable was a pure-land temple called Nichi Honganji. Here I am meditating in it, trying to block out the sounds of a jackhammer on the expressway directly to my left and the digidrone of Aaron's sony cybershot (which I immediatly reconfigured to shut the fuck up, after this experience):
While on the subject of urban shrines, I'm going to digress a little, back to Tokyo about a week and change ago when we paid a visit to Yasukuni-jinja, the very controversial shrine where all Japanese war-dead are enshrined as gods. It was a surreal and frightening experience; Aaron chose to wait outside and I can't blame him: in many ways, this place is a celebration of war, and it is unsettling. The controversy lies in the question of whether the Japanese should be paying homage to the very institution which prompted their ancestors to go kamikaze and kill themselves believing (knowing?) that they would become gods at the instant of their deaths. So the question then becomes what does it mean to go to Yasukuni, what are we memorializing in our visits to it. Anyway, if you are interested in hearing more on the international debate about the place, google it, there's TONS of info out there. Otherwise, you can just look at this picture and draw your own conclusion:
Those things on the flags are chrysanthemums, the national symbol of Japan that took on a very different meaning during WWII. Anyway, here are some fish, because they dont give a shit about war, right? Unless...
Anway, back to Kyoto. We finally did make it up to the mountains, where amidst the pouring rain we walked "The Philosopher's Path", saw some really awe insipiring stuff, including an artist collective hidden deep in the woods where Rachel Dobkin's Japanese doppelganger had seemingly rented out an abandoned shrine to line the place with Hot Wheels racetracks and little teeny matchbox cars. It was a mind blower, a conceptual piece whose utter majesty really doesn't come across in my above explanation. Oh well, here's Aaron:
... and here's some more pix from that amazing day....
After that it was off to Osaka, where... well, that's another story (and post[s]), so stay tuned faithful readers, we shall return with more. Needless to say, it will be a return to form (the form being hyphy), as Osaka may very well be the rock-fuck capital of Japan, the best country... ever
PEACE to all my tomodachi! (^_^) Db
posted by maitreya at 6:34 PM
1 Comments:
mmm.somber indeed
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