Am trying to figure what we saw....after returning home

[shootingstar]

I had no idea that Kyoto, Japan had 2,000 Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples...until now.  That is a freakin' a lot for 1 area.

It was also a city/area, that was never bombed by the Americans which is why the whole city has incredible and many heritage architectural sites.  

So I'm trying to locate/name  a small  temple bell site that we just walked  by coincidence, with all sorts of wood ceiling paintings of floating heavenly musicians...they were lovely.  I nearly killed my neck, bending back and looking upward to zoom in to take photos.

This sort of thing happened when I was in Greece:  I knew I was walking by/on ancient sites/art pieces but didn't read enough in advance even vaguely, to know the historic significance. 

But then, this happens even in our own country/city.  Probably for us, are the native Indian/aboriginal stories/history.

[Ralphie ★]

5 hours ago, shootingstar said:

This sort of thing happened when I was in Greece:  I knew I was walking by/on ancient sites/art pieces but didn't read enough in advance even vaguely, to know the historic significance. 

If only you knew someone versed in library science.

[shootingstar]

Since I did go to Sunday School for 2 years as a child and summer Bible classes for 2 wks. 1 summer only as child, hence, I can visit churches and great cathedrals in Europe and have a tiny understanding common themes, stories and symbols. 

As a university graduate of English literature, medieval to Golden Age of Enlightment (I8 century British literature), great literature is steeped in biblical imagery and themes....John Milton, John Donne, Sir Alexander Pope, etc.

However I knew going to Asia, I would barely even understand the most basic of Buddhism and Shintoism.  So I had check out the meaning of most simplist symbols and stories.  Admittedly when a Buddhist temple is beside a Shinto shrine ...it's easy to mix up stuff.  And not do certain things, ie. never drink water from the purification well at a shrine. It's to wash your hands symbolically. ?

The lady in above photo is a celestial Buddhist handmaiden ..which these superpowers in the Buddhist world, fly around in swirling clouds, playing music and singing praise over land of Buddha.  Like Eastern Asian angels ...who also have wings like a bird..in heaven.  The image has East Indian Sanskirt origins, which migrated to China (found in cave paintings, etc. if Communists haven't destroyed their heritage sites  ?) and to Japan centuries ago.  In Japan they are called Tennyo.

[shootingstar]

Jeez..I just discovered we went to a Japan's National Treasure site.  And we saw a huge Buddhist bell...which was cast in the 1500's.  We were sooooo clueless what we saw at times, in Japan.

It floors me some of these temples and palaces like some the great cathedrals.....the huge tall wooden doors, steep steps.....how many slaves/servants were used to built such monstrous structures that we don't build on that scale anymore. 

[Prophet Zacharia]

4 hours ago, shootingstar said:

Jeez..I just discovered we went to a Japan's National Treasure site.  And we saw a huge Buddhist bell...which was cast in the 1500's.  We were sooooo clueless what we saw at times, in Japan.

It floors me some of these temples and palaces like some the great cathedrals.....the huge tall wooden doors, steep steps.....how many slaves/servants were used to built such monstrous structures that we don't build on that scale anymore. 

I had understood they were built by the Monks. No?

[shootingstar]

It appears some of it was built by monks and directed by them.....so some of monks had engineering principles...  ?  But then being monk back then was common, probably meant food, shelter and safety (sort of..if you kept fit to protect the temple or shrine).

 

[late]

To me, this comes down to style.

Researching where you are going is the sensible thing to do. I walked past the front gate of Tivoli without knowing what it was. OTOH, the more you do that, the more you take away from the joy of discovery.

I try to find a middle ground, although I should confess I fall a lot closer to the hippie end of the spectrum, than the wannabe tour guide style.

We were in Italy, and the group was supposed to go to a paper making event. Maybe because making paper used to be big business here, I had less than zero interest. We were just wandering around and stumbled across a museum of money. If I hadn't been looking for a way to kill time, I wouldn't have gone in. I'm no expert, but I have a real interest in economics, and I've read some serious histories on the subject. We went in, and I was captivated. You get to see dozens of different sorts of adulterated currency. After walking through, you could give some idea how badly the gold or silver had been stepped on.

OTOH, I went to a Wimpys in Amsterdam in the 70s. I was feeling a little homesick to begin, and there was a place promising burgers and fries. The 'burger' was pork, the bun was actual bread, not the puffy crap you get here. The ketchup was the worst, it was a simple tomato sauce. The potatoes were wedges, not bad, but definitely not fries. I could have eaten at any of a dozen nice places, if I had done my homework.

You pays yer money, you takes yer chances.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Civilization-Capitalism-15th-18th-Century-Set/dp/B001LNQ1TY/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1542549233&sr=8-6&keywords=braudel+civilization+and+capitalism

[shootingstar]

1 hour ago, late said:

I try to find a middle ground, although I should confess I fall a lot closer to the hippie end of the spectrum, than the wannabe tour guide style.

 

I'm kinda like that.  I'm the person that figures out the things/sites to visit in a foreign area. My dearie is the route/navigation person or person who takes greater initiative to figure out foreign local transportation systems and get the tickets/bookings.

I just like having a vague idea what we are seeing even if it's just a 3-4 facts about the place.

Did you know that the rabbit at a Shinto shrine, is a symbol of fertility?  You see, I wondered why on earth did I see these rabbit amulets for sale, at a shrine in Kyoto... so I looked it up yesterday....4 months after returning to Canada. 

[MickinMD ★]

21 hours ago, shootingstar said:

I had no idea that Kyoto, Japan had 2,000 Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples...until now.  That is a freakin' a lot for 1 area.

 

That's amazing. I think the Brooklyn-Curtis Bay areas of Baltimore, that border on the Brooklyn Park area In which I reside just outside the city, have about 2,000 bars and a heavy-drinking population to support them.  That's also a lot for an area!  We have a 1/2 mile wide park that separates the houses there from us and police helicopter patrols criss-cross the park at night.

[shootingstar]

13 minutes ago, MickinMD said:

That's amazing. I think the Brooklyn-Curtis Bay areas of Baltimore, that border on the Brooklyn Park area In which I reside just outside the city, have about 2,000 bars and a heavy-drinking population to support them.  That's also a lot for an area!  We have a 1/2 mile wide park that separates the houses there from us and police helicopter patrols criss-cross the park at night.

I'm certain there well over 1,000 sushi and sashimi places in Metro Vancouver.  However this is totally unsubstantiated. ? But seriously, one can become well-versed on quality on such places in Metro Vancouver, both in core of Vancouver and in suburbs.  Korean cuisine is creeping along to become more popular and widespread as Chinese cuisine.

I consider Seattle REALLLY pale in terms of Asian cuisine, even though geographically it's just as close as Vancouver to Asia. Vancouver's the action place.