shrines, shrines, shrines

Today was the first day of intense sightseeing. Destinations: Nijo-jo, Ryoan-Ji, Kinkaku-ji, and Ninna-ji. "Jo" means castle and "Ji" means shrine; therefore we went to one castle and three shrines. whew!

This trip entails soooo much walking.

Nijo-jo. Pretty cool because most of its buildings are laid out diagonally, which is a defensive move because back in the 1600s in feudal Japan, you didn't want to be open to enemies attacking you! Also the floors in all the rooms are built specially to squeak when anyone walks on them, therefore they're aptly named "nightingale floors."

For all the shrines we had to remove our shoes and we couldn't take pictures in some parts. I took this picture right before I found out about the no photo rule.

Close-up on part of the zen garden at Ryoan-ji. This shrine was under some construction, and therefore was kind of boring, since we couldn't visit the more tranquil parts of it.

The Golden Pavilion at Kinkaku-ji. It is completed covered in gold leaf, wow! This shrine was the most crowded of all, swarming with local schoolchildren and tourists like us.

A girl tossing coins for luck towards a statue of Buddha at Kinkaku-ji.

A girl tying a wish on a line at Kinkaku-ji. Note her face mask to protect herself/others?

Wishes at Kinkaku-ji.

Wishes at Ninna-ji.

Ninna-ji. I'm going to take a guess and say these things are prayers on wood that you burn and send up to the heavens. hehe.

Kind of a boring/academic post today, my apologies.