Kyoto
Kyoto is just about what I imagined it to be. The scenery is beautiful, the air is clear and the places of worship are numerous. The shop houses that line the streets around Kiyomizu Temple hint at a simpler past of mysticism and rituals, but find the time to slip in a tourist trap or two.
Kiyomizu Temple is one of the more well-known temples in Japan. The temple is situated off the side of a mountain and is partially located on an elevated wooden platform. It used to be a very popular practice to jump off the side of the stage because it was believed that people who survive the fall can have their wish granted. I would imagine that this was probably a self-fulfilling prophecy as a jumper’s greatest wish would probably be to survive the trip down.
Don’t be a pussy
Besides the death wish attraction, the shrine complex also includes a matchmaking shrine, which features a famous pair of “love stones”. It is believed that if one manages to walk from one stone to the other with eyes closed, he/she will successfully find love. My personal take on this particular legend is that people who attempt to do this will probably collide into strangers in the crowded area, and there is a high probability that at least one of them is of the opposite gender and looking for a relationship.
By the way, according to this highly scientific chart, if your age (by the end of this year) is found amongst the ones listed below (particularly the ones in red), then your love life is in trouble! (Top half of the chart is for ladies, bottom half is for guys.) The only way you can hot fix your misfortune is by going to the temple and pick up an anti-misfortune kit for 500 yen. A more powerful upgrade is available for 5,000 yen for those trapped in the infinite abyss of despair.
Kiyomizu also has all the normal stuff that other shrines and temples have, such as omikuji and ema. I got a shoukichi (small fortune) for my draw, which is a very emotionally confusing fortune. It’s sort of like saying, “Your life is probably going to be boring…in a good way.” My friend drew kyou (misfortune), which I had never seen before. I was convinced that they put good fortunes in all the slots as a good business practice. He attempted to tie his paper onto a provided stand, which supposedly negates the misfortune but totally defeats the point of omikuji, but he failed and tore it into two. The curse was too strong.
Once in a while, the temple worker comes to clear the gathering misfortunes
Ema (絵馬) is basically a piece of wooden board on which you can write your deepest darkest wishes and hang them up for strangers to see. There are very interesting to read. At a tourist-filled location such as Kiyomizu, a lot of the ema are written in English and Chinese.
Most of the ema were normal wishes about love, health and career. I picked the more interesting ones.
Random Photos
Kyoto JR Station
People who got hooked up successfully thanks to the shrine
Gramany
Somewhere in Gion
Minamiza
Some guy fishing in some river in Gion
My sleeping spot under the bridge
I am so cold… For those of you wondering, there are fibre optics connection everywhere in Japan. Even under bridges.
December 11th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Nice, the temple looks cool, wish i was there :)
December 12th, 2008 at 12:19 am
>For those of you wondering, there are fibre optics connection everywhere in Japan. Even under bridges.
Dammit, I am envious!
December 12th, 2008 at 1:06 am
Ahh, that second last shot is beautiful!
December 12th, 2008 at 2:48 am
its pretty cool to be traveling in japan. kyoto looks like a city back in the feudal era still. its like fantasy come to reality!
December 12th, 2008 at 4:11 am
wow DarkMirage u go to japan again this year? where u got all those money～～～ darky so rich～（≫～≪ ）
With current world economic situation, everything become expensive arent they? … well Singapore dollar still have great rates though…
anyway how long you will be in japan for this time trip?
If you don’t mind, i might join your tokyo trip for a day or two… well my school holiday start 22th though…
anyway enjoy your trip!
feel free to contact me if you want, i still using same no. + email
December 12th, 2008 at 4:14 am
Wow, I’m envious of the place you are staying at… it’s a whole lot better than my box.
December 12th, 2008 at 5:59 am
Great pics. Will you be attempting to visit Nintendo in Kyoto?
December 12th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Kyoto must be amazing in autumn. I visited in late summer and had no chance to see the red foliage in Kiyomizudera.
I absolutely adored Gion – it must be one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen in Japan.
December 12th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
You’re lucky to be there. Wish I was there. :)
December 12th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
the last pic looked like from 20th Century Boys >_>
December 12th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Wordpress 2.7 is out; you shouldn’t have problems updating under a bridge right? ;)
December 12th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Some day, I will go to Japan(Nippon)
December 12th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
And the first picture is so scenic
December 13th, 2008 at 2:15 am
Some very exotic photos! Just out of curiosity, do you use anything to keep them all organised? Maybe something such as Picasa or a site like Flicker?
I think you should really stop being so analytic in places like this and just enjoy them as is for fun, LOL. I think it would have been interesting if you tried out the stones and told us if your hypothesis was correct, though.
@Slyphnier
I wonder the same thing too… DSLR, figures, trips to Japan. That’s some heavy spending!
Not that I’m criticising you of course, DM. Just a general comment ;)
December 13th, 2008 at 5:56 am
Well, Now I know where to go in Kyoto when I go there in the summer…
I lol at the Touhou and Lucky Star plates…Lucky Star…wrong shrine…
December 13th, 2008 at 7:52 am
looks so familiar… from lucky star. xD
December 13th, 2008 at 11:32 am
……….may seem random but why in the world are train stations in japan so big compared to the ones in america…..lol “marry a hot japanese wife and be rich” lol
December 13th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
only 3 words can describe the last pic…what on earth???
…otherwise, interesting (especially the “Gramany” one)
December 13th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
I see reimu in the last ema!
December 14th, 2008 at 12:27 am
@randomperson: Then you shouldn’t have missed the Marisa, Momiji, Suwako and Patchouli in the third last ema. xD
December 14th, 2008 at 3:40 am
Oh god, I LOL’ed at your last picture and caption.
I wouldn’t mind living under a bridge in Japan too if it had 100Mb/s fibre.
December 14th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
@Carillus: But reimu stood out more and marisa’s hat is angled backwards. I did notice them too though.
December 15th, 2008 at 10:51 am
Does one of those say they want to do a girl? o___o
December 15th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Looks awesome. Someday I will visit Japan someday.
lol @ the Lucky Star plate. Did someone really do that? I’m surprised there weren’t any plates about the SOS brigade and Haruhi though. Now that would be pure win.
December 15th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
haha I liked the ema pictures. the drawings are pretty cool!!! :)
December 15th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Damn, I want to go places, too. Maybe someday I’ll make it big and travel every corner of this globe. But for now, I’ll have to settle for Japan via proxy server *sighs*…
Anyways, have a nice stay at your home away from home…
December 16th, 2008 at 4:14 am
Ahh, I always wanted to go see Kyoto in the winter, but never had the time or money for it. Nice shots, as always. うらやましい…
December 16th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Are you too ugly to take a photo of yourself?
December 16th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
well, how many bloggers here actually had a photo of themselves up on their own blog?
and besides, its all the more mysterious. It makes people wonder, “Who is DarkMirage?”
December 17th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
http://gallery.darkmirage.com/2008_japan/kyoto/image/400/IMG_0080.JPG
OH HEY. Its Konata! YO! XD
December 17th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
OOO you’re in Kyoto! Been living here for almost a year now. Great place isn’t it. Sadly there aren’t many anime related stores around.
December 18th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Mitch Rapp:
Mr. Dreamer. Please make the effort to change your IP address if you wish to post using multiple identities. And to answer your question: I am not in the picture because my camera lens (17-50mm) is not wide-angle enough to fit my grossly overweighted body in a single shot. Either that or because I’m the photographer.
December 22nd, 2008 at 6:05 am
DM are all(not really) japanese people are OBSESSED with Anime, Haruhi, Lucky Star and maids?
PS are you chinese?