Single in Kyoto

Date: December 24, 2006
Where: Kyoto
Who?: Very Single Laura
Info: Christmas in Japan is more of an event for couples. Most Japanese couples go out on Christmas Eve and if you don’t have a date…well...I seemed to be the only one...

SANJUSANGEN-DO



My first stop was Sanjusangen-do. This temple is famous for having 1001 statues of the Buddhist deity, Kannon (1000 standing, 1 huge sitting statue). The temple hall is REALLY long (120 meters) and when I turned the first corner, it looked like the statues went on forever. It was breathtaking.


[this is a postcard - no photography allowed inside and I wasn't about to piss off another security guard, like at Ise Shrine]

While walking around, I found myself behind an American family who was with a Japanese guide. Their youngest son was somewhat mischievous and he reminded me of you, Christopher, when we came to Japan (Temples, temples and more temples!). You could tell he was bored out of his mind and he was starting to get on his parents' nerves.







KIYOMIZU-DERA


After Sanjusangen-do I jumped on a bus (I’m a pro at Kyoto buses now) and headed to the number one tourist spot in Kyoto, Kiyomizu-dera. The first thing I noticed here was the number of couples. There were young couples, old couples, couples dressed in kimonos and scantily clad couples. Lets just say at this point I was feeling very definitely single and alone. At the time I wondered why so many couples were visiting Kiyomizu-dera. I mean, I can’t imagine North American couples thinking, ‘Let’s go to a cultural heritage site for a date on Christmas Eve.’ Now, as I am writing this I notice in my guidebook that it says there is another shrine on the temple grounds, dedicated the cupid of Japan….So that’s why all those couples were there…it makes sense now. In other interesting Kiyomizu-dera news, did you know it is a contender in the New 7 Wonders of the World contest? If you feel like it, you can actually vote for your favourites.















KINKAKU-JI


Last stop on my temple-crazy tour of Kyoto was kinkaku-ji, the famous golden pavilion. Originally a retirement home for a shogun, it was converted to a zen temple when he died. In 1987 the building was restored and a new, thicker coating of gold-leaf was applied. There is no missing it now…it’s so gold, it glows.







By the time I left kinkaku-ji, I was done with my self-pity and that night we celebrated Mayumi-san's birthday. Mrs. Yamamoto made an amazing dinner and after some ice cream cake I didn't feel like the gods were against me anymore.