Visiting the Golden Hall
Trip Start
May 16, 2006
1
7
10
Trip End
Aug 26, 2006
Hiraizumi,
Tohoku,
Japan
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
My friend Dennis was right: Japanese temples are a must-see. I really enjoyed today's trip to two temples. I forgot what the first one was called, but the scenery was beautiful. Before that, we went to a glass shop that had the people making the stuff next door and a place where dango was sent to us on a string above a river.
The second temple we visited was the famous Chuson-ji Temple. We walked about half a mile, most of it uphill, but the trip was worth it. The Golden Hall at the top was breathtakingly gorgeous
01 - glass blower
. The scenery along the way was beautiful here too. I liked how they had an English audio at the Golden Hall display that provided info on the background and symbolism. During the excursion, Shiina, the kawaii granddaughter of Crystal and Ty's host, latched onto Eric...literally. I bet people thought he was her dad or older brother.When we returned to Tome, we visited the fire department. The Japanese dial "119" for emergencies like the Taiwanese. The firemen gave us a tour and several demonstrations. They even let us try on and test out equipment. Since he was one of the tallest, Eric was put on a stretcher (to show that it was built for Japanese people). Then the firemen did a demonstration of what they had to do if a person was trapped in a smoking building.
Our last stop was the supermarket again. This time I got to take pictures in the purikura. I wish American photo booths were as fun. Maybe I'll scan them in, but since I didn't know what I was doing, some of them don't look good. Thanks to Skye for showing me how it works.
After dinner, we celebrated Tsuku-chan's birthday (oops, I guess it was today and not yesterday) with some Japanese and cheese cakes. Then Emi asked if I wanted to try on a kimono. All the adult women in the house helped me get into the great-grandmother's kimono. It 's really hard to walk in one. The obi felt like a corset, but maybe that's because I'm fat (especially compared to all the Japanese girls). We watched a samurai dorama after I changed back into my normal clothes. It was interesting and had a funny spitfire of a female character, but I was too tired to finish it. It's been a long day so ja ne!
