Introduce Kyoto to Foreigners !!!
The Tatsumi Bashi area is designated as a preservation district for groups of traditional buildings in Kyoto City. As a particularly picturesque place in Gion, it is used not only as a shooting spot for tourists, but also as a location for various movies and dramas.
Originally the domain of Kenninji Temple, Hanami-koji-Street developed after the Meiji period. In 2001, electric lines were undergrounded and cobblestone pavement was completed, and the area was reborn as a town with an emotional atmosphere.
A hanamachi or ’flower town’ is a district where geisha live and work in Japan. Each hanamachi typically has its own name, crest, and distinct geisha population, with geisha not typically working outside of their own district. Hanamachi usually contain okiya (geisha houses) and ochaya (teahouses where geisha entertain).
This Pure Land sect was founded by a monk named Shinran (1173–1263), who simplified Buddhist thought to one essential teaching: all you need to do is repeat the words “namu amida butsu” or “Praise to Amida Buddha”.
Shinran believed that Amida Buddha had vowed to save all those who sincerely repeated these words.
This building is the center of reverence for the sect, where a wooden statue of Shinran, the founder of the sect, is enshrined.
With a front of 76 m, sides of 58 m, and a height of 38 m, it is one of the largest wooden structures in the world and was designated a National Important Cultural Property in 2019.
Higashi Honganji is one of two head temples of the Jodo Shinshu sect of Pure Land Buddhism, the most popular form of Buddhism in Japan. The other head temple is Nishi Honganji, the western temple, is located a few blocks to the west of this one.
This temple has a main hall designated as a national treasure and a collection of Buddhist statues by famous Buddhist priests representing the Kamakura period. There are many Buddhist statues that have made their mark on history as temple treasures that should be regarded as treasures of Japan.
Originally, the Sanskrit characters of Buddha were carved on the cut end of the radish and offered to the worshippers to ward off evil spirits,so they started burning this radish and offering it to the worshippers.
Nowadays, a Buddhist memorial service is held and seasoned and stewed daikon is burned with fried bean curd.
Senbon-Shaka-do (Daihoonji Temple) was founded by Priest Giku in the first year of Anjo (1227) in the early Kamakura period about 800 years ago. The main hall is designated as a national treasure as the oldest building in Kyoto, which miraculously survived the Onin and Bunmei wars.
There are many good luck charms at the temple’s office for various benefits. There are many lucky charms for children, marriage, victory, traffic safety and so on.
In addition, many ema (votive picture tablet) are pasted in the narrow precincts.
