Nara

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  Nara, Kinki, Japan
Saturday, December 13, 2008

Woke up at 7.30am. For a while, debated what I should do with my ever growing beard. I decided not to shave it until the end of my journey. Especially going into lesser developed countries, I will be needing the rough looks that the beard provides. It could be a symbol for my pilgrimage too. With a ceremony, threw away my razor, foam and after-shave. They were taking up too much space anyways...

With the large backpack on my back and the smaller one strapped on my chest, I left for Kyoto Station. Japan is great with tourist information. The lady at the office spoke very good English and told me how to get to the train to Nara, the capital before Kyoto. Paid $7 for my 45-minute train ride. The train was nothing like the sketchy train I had taken between Vladimir and Moscow. This one was very comfortable. I love riding trains, since it allows you to spot the slightest change in scenery. From skyscrapers to farms to fairly developed residential areas..

The Messenger of the Gods

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I followed the info in LP; took the bus from Nara JR Station. Although I tried to listen to the Japanese announcements as carefully as I could, couldn`t catch the name of my stop. As a result, I got off at the last stop. By communicating with the driver through sign language, I figured out how to get to the hostel. I was there 20 minutes later.

The Nara Youth Hostel was stunning. It was a large, kind-a Soviet-style, complex with well-maintained facilities. This was by far the best hostel that I had ever seen. A dorm room was 32,000 yens. About half of the price of my ryokan and about the same price as my hostel in St. Petersburg. Dropped my heavy backpack and left.

I walked for a couple kilometers to the Nara-koen area, where most of the sights were. It was a beautiful day and Nara was established in a wonderful environment. There rivers flowing through the city; hills all around it, and trees everywhere.

Nara`s population is a 5th of Kyoto`s. About the same size as New Haven, CT. I could not believe the high living standards prevalent in this small town

Todai-Ji

. I understand that this town is a major tourist attraction, but are most equivalent cities of the world so well put together? Nara has been established on a grid pattern, which has been imported from China. The streets are spotless; the buildings well-maintained, and the transportation system is as efficient as the German system.

Even though it was swamped with tourists, Nara-koean was gorgeous. The tall trees seemed to extend to infinity, while dozens of deers ran around freely. In the pre-Buddhist period, deers were believed to be messengers of the Gods.

My first stop was the Todai-Ji. This Buddhist Temple is the tallest wooden building in the world. The architecture of this 8th Century edifice was quite different from anything I had seen before. It had the brown stripes of a Zen Buddhist Temple, but it had 2 tall stories. Moreover, there was a 3-pronged, candle-like motif that connected the wooden stripes. Inside, there was a gigantic bronze Buddha. About 10 times my size... I must add that Todai-Ji is the most impressive temple that I have seen so far.

As I was moving from Todai-Ji to Kasuga Taisha, I stopped by a random restaurant and had some gross chicken udon for $4.

Kasuga Taisha was a 8th Century Shinto Shrine. Both in color and architecture, it felt like a smaller version of Heian-Jingu in Kyoto. However, there are 2 main difference: this shrine has thousands of lanterns and it has 4 separate mini-shrines for the 4 deities that the shrine has been dedicated to. There were crosses on the mini-shrines. Half of the cross was attached to the roof of the mini-shrine, while the other half was free standing.

As I was exiting the shrine, a 60-year-old Japanese lady and 2 of her younger friends came to me and asked me whether I wanted a free guided tour of the shrine. The ladies were training to become tour guides. The older lady gave me some interesting information. The orange, yellow, black and green colors of the shrine were copied from China. Shinto shrines used to be plainer before the Chinese influence began flowing. In contrast to what I had thought, there aren't significant numbers of Shinto living anywhere besides Japan. Another bit of interesting information... Buddhism and Shinto have been widely influenced by each other. This is why their religious building are difficult to distinguish; their chants sound remarkably similar etc. In the same vain, LP comments that for most Japanese people the 2 religions are inseparable; they live as if they belong to both religions. Finally, the 60-year-old tour guide trainee told me that the material used to cover the roof was not a type of metal as I had thought, but a type of ceramic instead.

My third stop was Kofuku-Ji, another Buddhist temple complex. However, the main temple had been taken down completely. They were building a new one from scratch.

Honestly, I dont't understand why all of these traditional Japanese buildings have been made of wood. Although they look pretty, they have been destroyed by fires and hence rebuilt many times. Stone or brick, for instance, are more durable and better at isolation. One reason could be that Japan is subject to frequent earthquakes. Since wood is less harmful than stone in case of an earthquake, they prefer wood. Another reason may root back to the Shinto tradition of rebuilding every 20 years. It would have been more difficult to take down sturdier buildings. Most probably, the cost of building would have been higher as well.

My last stop in Nara-koen was the Nara National Museum, which exhibited wooden Buddhist statues and pottery from Japan, China and Korea. The Japanese are very good at commercializing. Just like the other museums I had visited in Japan, this museum had an excellent museum shop and a cafe with wide variety. In a similar vein, the religious sights have been very well commercialized as well. The most popular ones charge and entry fee. Inside, there are numerous souvenirs on sale, in addition to the usual candles and wish-boards.

Some of the ladies who ride the public bus are over 90 years of age.

The buses have stick shifts. Each time the bus comes to a full stop the engine shuts down automatically. When the driver steps on the clutch, it starts working again.

Managed to find the only Kentucky Fried Chicken in Nara, next to the JR station. It wasn't only bad food, but it was also bad KFC that served fossilized chicken. After that, found the only Starbucks in town, from which I'm writing this entry.

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