Japanese Jaunt with a rugby ball Kyoto up and under Fri 18th Oct

Having completed our visit to the Imperial Palace and gardens we headed for the hills. The rising ground in Kyoto tends to be where the temples and qshrines are located. We were headed for Konchi-in, a famous Buddhist Temple founded around 1400. Firstly a little background on Japanese religion. The two major religions are Shinto (52%) and Buddhism (35%). The two happily coexist and even sometimes share the same building and to a certain extent compliment each other. Shintoism is as old as Japanese culture whereas Buddhism was imported from the mainland in 600 CE. Shinto is an optimistic religion where man is basically good but can be affected by evil spirits or Kami. Most of the praying, cleansing and offerings is to avoid the Kami or bring good luck in various aspects of life. Most Japanese today wouldn't consider themselves religious but would participate in ceremonies honouring those milestones in life, birth, death and marriage.
Back to the Konchi-in. A Buddhist Temple, remember with especially fine gardens.

Eat your heart out Claude Monet, meanwhile the Koi are having a good feed. If you look carefully you might be able to see a turtle amongst the Koi. In case you can't see it, try the next picture.

I love this picture as it demonstrates the close relationship between the various elements within the garden. The tree and the rock compliment each other perfectly. Incidentally the tree is not completely dead, just very old. You can see living branches if you look closely.

We moved on via the excellent subway to the Nijo-jo. This is a castle 

built in 1603 by the Tokugawa Shoguns in order to demonstrate their power, particularly compared with that of the Emperor. The place is huge, the building is just a corner tower and look at the length of the moat and outer walls. The palace inside was constructed with "nightingale floors " that sing and squeak at every move, making it difficult for intruders to move about quietly. No photos inside the palace. 

This is the main entrance gate. The light just beginning to fade. 

On our way back to the subway we encountered a shop selling formal Samurai gear and swords. They weren't cheap, the equivalent to Holland and Holland. The most expensive ones were the antiques, a single small blade was a million yen, well over £7000. We just bought the smallest one we could afford. 

Just outside Kyoto station square is the famous Kyoto tower. The observation deck stands 100 metres above ground. This retro looking building was constructed in 1964 designed to mimic a lighthouse, but I feel gets closer to a space rocket. It was the first tower in the world to adopt a monocoque structure and is designed to withstand typhoons and earthquakes. 

The observation deck is just below the red ring of lights with the telecommunications equipment standing above it.

This is looking back to where the last picture was taken from. Pretty well dead centre just below the red horizontal bar. 

So we trained back to pack up ready for the trip to Kanazawa tomorrow. The train we have booked on is called Thunderbird and in addition to exploring this city we have the prospect of the Wales v France quarter final. Thunderbirds are go!