No entries this week 'cause I'm spending the New Year in Kyoto, cultural capital of Japan. Though I do have sporadic Internet access, I have very little time to spend Photoshopping the literally hundreds of images I'll be taking during my six days here. So no dice on the real-time daily updates. I'll have to fill you in next year.
Nevertheless, here's one image I took today, to hold you over. It's Kyoto's famous Kinkaku-ji temple, whose gold-leaf coating admittedly looks a lot more impressive in the fall, when the surrounding maples lend it a fiery red-and-orange backdrop. But I hope you like this shot anyway.
Soon to be a major desktop picture.
*giggle* Glad to hear you're getting those big desktop image deals. :)
No meditation for me, alas, as the Ryoan-ji temple was absolutely packed with tourists. The week of New Year's is the #1 travel time in Japan. Fortunately, I was warned in advance, but my trip to Kyoto was far from contemplative, I'm afraid.
But I can always go back later.
Is that a temple for the sun goddess Amaterasu? I know Ise is her main shrine, but the gold leaf catching the sunrise sounds like something designed to evoke her.
Nope. Kannon, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy (see also my 9/12 entry on Hase-dera). A concise rundown on Kinkaku-ji is available here:
http://www.yamasa.org/japan/english/destinations/kyoto/kinkakuji.html
Strictly speaking, anything referred to as a temple in Japan is devoted to Buddhism. Our friend Amaterasu is part of Shintoism--Shinto centers of worship are always called shrines. Anyway, an Amaterasu shrine would never be covered in gold leaf--the flashy stuff is a hallmark of the Chinese-influenced Buddhist temples.
Not that flashiness doesn't have its place, as you'll see when I get to Nara, and the home of Japan's largest Buddha.
More on the shrine/temple thing here:
http://www.thingsasian.com/goto_article/article.1996.html
glad you finally made it to Kyoto! Kinkaku-ji is one of my favourites - the way it glistens when the sun hits it is just breathtaking!
Make sure to go to Ryoan-ji and see the rock garden, and maybe look into joining one of their meditations... it used to be open to travelers, and all were welcome. i did a sunrise meditation once with just me and two chanting monks, which was easily one of the top 5 spiritual events of my life.