Traveling in Japan: Nara
Along with Miyajima, my favorite stop on my winter break travels was Nara. In fact, my planning for this trip started with Nara because I was told that it would be a good place to witness a more traditional New Years Eve in Japan.
Since Kyoto is the center of traditional Japan what with all of their temples and history, Nara is often thought as a smaller, less well-known Kyoto. Similar to Kyoto, Nara is full of temples and its citizens display a more laid-back sort of life apart from the madness of cities like Tokyo and Osaka.
It is worth mentioning that my favorite hostel during my travels was also in Nara: Nara Backpackers. A 100-year-old house had been converted into a hostel. It was definitely the coziest hostel experience I have experienced, and the house and garden itself were beautiful. Additionally, the host (seemingly the only employee) was also incredibly nice. He was a young Japanese guy who had lived in Canada for a year giving tours to Japanese tourists to see the Northern Lights. He was planning on resigning from his position at the hostel in order to work on a cruise ship this summer. I've known a lot of people who have worked on cruise ships as it's a good way to travel and make some money!
Nara's main attraction is an acres-wide park full of temples large and small. Besides Todai-ji and Kasuga-taisha, this park complex also features a museum full of national treasures, some hiking trails, and hundreds of deer that roam completely free and are completely comfortable around people. Traditionally, deer were considered the messengers of the gods in Shinto. Visitors of the park can opt to purchase crackers for the deer. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this, but I ended up not feeding the deer.
Of the temples in Nara, the most well-known is Todai-ji, which for a long time was the largest wooden structure in the world (until 1998). However, it's interesting to note that when it was reconstructed after a fire in 1709, it was actually rebuilt to be 30% smaller than it was before! Within the Todai-ji is Daibutsu, which is the largest bronze statue of Buddha in the world. Besides this very famous Buddhist temple, there is a famous (but far less famous than Todai-ji) Shinto temple called Kasuga-taisha. This temple is known for its vibrant reddish-orange color and being somewhat nestled away in the forest of the park complex I mentioned earlier.
Traditionally, Japanese people visit a Buddhist temple on New Year's Eve and then visit a Shinto shrine on New Years Day. As pointed out before, this is just one example of how Buddhism and Shinto are intertwined in Japanese culture. Thus, after spending the day walking around the park complex of temples, I waited until about 11:30 p.m. to stand in line for the Buddhist monks to open the doors to Todai-ji. On the way there, there were tons of vendors selling all sorts of delicious-looking snacks and drinks. When I arrived at the temple, there were already hundreds of people lined up in front of me and hundreds more ended up lining up behind me. Some people towards the front were surrounding a bonfire trying to keep warm.
After the monks opened the doors, I walked through to the grounds of Todai-ji and there were torches lit on either side of the stone walkway which led up to Daibutsu. I looked up and saw that the door that opens to see the Daibutsu's face from the courtyard was indeed open (they only open up this special door on New Year's Eve). Once I stepped into the main temple building, I saw that some monks were sitting on the stage in front of the Daibutsu chanting in unison while surrounded by various ritual and sacred objects. People walked around the Daibutsu clockwise (as one does) and lined up to purchase fortunes and objects for good luck in the new year. I don't know a lot about the aforementioned fortunes and charms (specifically arrows which symbolically represent the killing of evili spirts), but I know that if the fortune they receive is a good fortune, they will take it home with them. If it is a bad fortune, then they will hang it up in a specific location provided by the temple or shrine. The elements eventually dispose of the bad fortune for the purchaser. After walking around the Todai-ji grounds and taking in the experience, I left to wander up the hill to a bell that was being rung. As per Buddhist tradition, this bell was in the process of being rung 108 times. People were lined up in groups (mostly families) to ring the bell once per group. I think the groups had been given numbered tickets earlier in the day in order to have the privilege to ring the bell. The bell is rung 108 times because in the Buddhist tradition there are 108 sins or vices (like greed and conceit, for examples). Each ring of the bell is thought to drive away the desire to commit one of these vices. The 108th ring was rung by a rather young-looking monk who seemed to be presiding over the bell-ringing. After the bell-ringing, I went back to my hostel and went to sleep.
The next morning, I took a stroll to the Shinto shrine I mentioned earlier, Kasuga-taisha. Just like around Todai-ji the evening before, there were vendors selling all sorts of goodies. Japanese people were standing in front of a specific area of the shrine praying and throwing coins that were caught in a blanket. And just like the night before, people were purchasing fortunes and the same arrows.
The rest of my time in Nara was spent visiting temples in other parts of the town. The most interesting experience I had at one of the other temples I visited was when there seemed to be a sermon given by a Buddhist monk. I talked with my host at the hostel, and he said that he wasn't aware that Buddhist monks involve themselves in public sermons like that. Perhaps it was something that specific temple engages in or maybe it was an event that only happens on or around New Years.
I regretfully did not have time to visit Horyu-ji, which is the oldest temple in Japan and one of the oldest wooden structures in the world.
Overall, my experience in Nara, what with the cozy hostel and peaceful temples, was deeply quieting to my overactive mind and restless soul. In other words, the cure for what ails ya!
It is worth mentioning that my favorite hostel during my travels was also in Nara: Nara Backpackers. A 100-year-old house had been converted into a hostel. It was definitely the coziest hostel experience I have experienced, and the house and garden itself were beautiful. Additionally, the host (seemingly the only employee) was also incredibly nice. He was a young Japanese guy who had lived in Canada for a year giving tours to Japanese tourists to see the Northern Lights. He was planning on resigning from his position at the hostel in order to work on a cruise ship this summer. I've known a lot of people who have worked on cruise ships as it's a good way to travel and make some money!
Nara's main attraction is an acres-wide park full of temples large and small. Besides Todai-ji and Kasuga-taisha, this park complex also features a museum full of national treasures, some hiking trails, and hundreds of deer that roam completely free and are completely comfortable around people. Traditionally, deer were considered the messengers of the gods in Shinto. Visitors of the park can opt to purchase crackers for the deer. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this, but I ended up not feeding the deer.
Of the temples in Nara, the most well-known is Todai-ji, which for a long time was the largest wooden structure in the world (until 1998). However, it's interesting to note that when it was reconstructed after a fire in 1709, it was actually rebuilt to be 30% smaller than it was before! Within the Todai-ji is Daibutsu, which is the largest bronze statue of Buddha in the world. Besides this very famous Buddhist temple, there is a famous (but far less famous than Todai-ji) Shinto temple called Kasuga-taisha. This temple is known for its vibrant reddish-orange color and being somewhat nestled away in the forest of the park complex I mentioned earlier.
Traditionally, Japanese people visit a Buddhist temple on New Year's Eve and then visit a Shinto shrine on New Years Day. As pointed out before, this is just one example of how Buddhism and Shinto are intertwined in Japanese culture. Thus, after spending the day walking around the park complex of temples, I waited until about 11:30 p.m. to stand in line for the Buddhist monks to open the doors to Todai-ji. On the way there, there were tons of vendors selling all sorts of delicious-looking snacks and drinks. When I arrived at the temple, there were already hundreds of people lined up in front of me and hundreds more ended up lining up behind me. Some people towards the front were surrounding a bonfire trying to keep warm.
After the monks opened the doors, I walked through to the grounds of Todai-ji and there were torches lit on either side of the stone walkway which led up to Daibutsu. I looked up and saw that the door that opens to see the Daibutsu's face from the courtyard was indeed open (they only open up this special door on New Year's Eve). Once I stepped into the main temple building, I saw that some monks were sitting on the stage in front of the Daibutsu chanting in unison while surrounded by various ritual and sacred objects. People walked around the Daibutsu clockwise (as one does) and lined up to purchase fortunes and objects for good luck in the new year. I don't know a lot about the aforementioned fortunes and charms (specifically arrows which symbolically represent the killing of evili spirts), but I know that if the fortune they receive is a good fortune, they will take it home with them. If it is a bad fortune, then they will hang it up in a specific location provided by the temple or shrine. The elements eventually dispose of the bad fortune for the purchaser. After walking around the Todai-ji grounds and taking in the experience, I left to wander up the hill to a bell that was being rung. As per Buddhist tradition, this bell was in the process of being rung 108 times. People were lined up in groups (mostly families) to ring the bell once per group. I think the groups had been given numbered tickets earlier in the day in order to have the privilege to ring the bell. The bell is rung 108 times because in the Buddhist tradition there are 108 sins or vices (like greed and conceit, for examples). Each ring of the bell is thought to drive away the desire to commit one of these vices. The 108th ring was rung by a rather young-looking monk who seemed to be presiding over the bell-ringing. After the bell-ringing, I went back to my hostel and went to sleep.
The next morning, I took a stroll to the Shinto shrine I mentioned earlier, Kasuga-taisha. Just like around Todai-ji the evening before, there were vendors selling all sorts of goodies. Japanese people were standing in front of a specific area of the shrine praying and throwing coins that were caught in a blanket. And just like the night before, people were purchasing fortunes and the same arrows.
The rest of my time in Nara was spent visiting temples in other parts of the town. The most interesting experience I had at one of the other temples I visited was when there seemed to be a sermon given by a Buddhist monk. I talked with my host at the hostel, and he said that he wasn't aware that Buddhist monks involve themselves in public sermons like that. Perhaps it was something that specific temple engages in or maybe it was an event that only happens on or around New Years.
I regretfully did not have time to visit Horyu-ji, which is the oldest temple in Japan and one of the oldest wooden structures in the world.
Overall, my experience in Nara, what with the cozy hostel and peaceful temples, was deeply quieting to my overactive mind and restless soul. In other words, the cure for what ails ya!
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