Sunday, June 2, 2019

Japan day 11 - Nara


Today was spent in Nara - which was absolutely lovely.  We were lucky to be shown round by one of our academic hosts, who lives there, and who crafted a wonderful route for us, round - yes - gardens, temples, shrines.  We were less lucky in the dull, grey, sometimes rainy, unphotogenic weather - so rather than Large Buildings in the Gloom or Wonderful Views, here are an assortments of textures and colors: a boundary stone; lotus leaves;


moss and lichen;


a damp garden seen through a door frame;


a wall;


a roof with the beams elaborately and disconcertingly painted in USC's colors (disconcerting, too, was the USC baseball cap being worn by someone on the train back to Kyoto);



a large Buddha - though dwarfed by the huge, dark one next to it;


hanging lanterns;


and grove after grove of memorial lanterns on pillars - which are lit on three days a year, and which stretch away magically into the forest.


And yes, there are a large number of sacred deer, being fed from little packets of round rice cakes;


which are so much a signature of the city that they appear on the drain covers.
 

No comments:

Post a Comment