Day 08 : Culture tour in Kyoto

Kyoto!! It was one of the important culture site in Japan. Although we had arrived in Kyoto yesterday, we just began our real culture trip here today. The first time I knew the term of “Kyoto” was when I read the news about Kyoto Protocol. Kyoto has really important position of environmental protection in the world. However, after listening to Dr.Londo’s lecture, I knew that Kyoto use to be the capital of Japan. There were a lot of ancient building which reflects the traditions, religions and rituals. Although I like neon light and shopping areas in the big city like Tokyo, I am also interested in the culture experiences in Kyoto. Obviously, religions and traditions are significant parts of culture. As a buddhist , I try to explore how different Buddhism between China and Japan. It is also interesting for me to view the attitude of religion in Japan.

Today, we took the train to Nara and toured Todaiji Temple and Kasuga Shrine. These two places represented two important religions in Japan, which are Buddhism and Shintoism, and most of Japanese believed in them. Depending on basic introduction from Dr.Londo, the arrival of Buddhism in Japan is ultimately a consequence of the first contact between China and central Asia which occurred with the opening of Silk Road, while Shitonism is thought of as the indigenous religion of Japan. According to my research on google, Shitoism is like Taoism in China, which is folk religion on country. Actually, the word Shinto was adopted from the written Chinese (神道). Shintosm and Taosim have similar thought, which both refer to sprites and gods, focusing on philosophical path or studies. Obviously, Japanese culture was greatly affected by Chinese culture.

In Kasuga Shrine, there was orange arch in the entry of garden and tame deer walked around. By listening to short discussion with Dr.Londo, the orange arch was one of the key symbol of Shitoism and the Deer refer to god. Shrine was around by woody paths and the stream. Every item and building inside the Shrine was elegant and delicate. This made me feel peaceful. It was lucky for us to witness a traditional wedding in the Shrine. About half of Japanese participate in traditional marriage ceremony, while half of them prefer to western ceremony. There was similar situation in China.

However, in Todaiji temple, there was different style of building and layout from Kasuga Shrine. The only word could be used to describe Todaiji Temple is “great”. There is Great Buddha Hall, the largest wooden building in the world and the world's largest statue of the Buddha. The garden of Todaiji temple is fairly clean and organized. The layout and designs of the temple was symmetrical, which reflect the thought of encouraging balance in Buddhism. Todaiji temple is similar to Buddhism temple in China because there also was a buddhist temple, named Yonghe temple, in Beijing, which was as large as Todaiji temple.

Dr. Londo told us that Japanese have multiple believes in which they engage in the different religions in various of stages. They were born in Shinto way, and married in Christian style, then died in buddhist tradition. It is completely different from China. Chinese prefer family tradition and local custom in the big events of their life. They would not choose religious way for their birth, marriage and funeral. Therefore, different areas have distinctive way for their big events like marriage and funeral. After the tours in Todaiji temple and Kasuga Shrine, I realized that there were similar traditions, religions, and customs although they have somewhat differences. Japan the neighbor of China and they are affected by each other. This is why I love Japan very much.