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00:00 Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine
05:19 Nintendo HQ
27:26 Sagano & Arashiyama
30:13 Seiryoji
Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine
Dedicated to Inari, the deity of a good harvest and success in business, Fushimi Inari Taisha is the head of all of Japan’s Inari shrines. The seemingly endless path of vibrant orange torii gates leading up Mt. Inari makes for an impressive setting and is one of the most famous images of Japan.
The god that Fushimi Inari Taisha is dedicated to is one of many gods, or kami, worshipped in Shintoism. Over 35,000 shrines across Japan are dedicated to Inari. Most are humble roadside shrines; Fushimi Inari has the designation of taisha, or “grand shrine.” Because of its location, it was patronized by the court, and emperors often made donations here in ancient times.
It is said that the shrine was founded in 711 before Kyoto became Japan’s capital. The path leading up 233-meter-tall Mt. Inari is dotted with many smaller shrines and marked by approximately 10,000 torii gates. This long tunnel of vibrant orange torii gates is an iconic sight in Kyoto.
Because of the connection with success in business, local businesses donate torii gates to the shrine. The path up the mountain is thus named senbon torii, or one thousand torii, although there are now 10 times that number. Some of the torii date back to the Edo period (1603-1867).
Inari’s fox messengers, known in Japanese as kitsune, are pure white. Statues of white foxes can be seen throughout the shrine complex. In Japanese mythology, foxes like to eat aburaage, or deep-fried tofu. The restaurants leading up to the shrine thus sell inari sushi (rice stuffed into pockets of aburaage) and kitsune udon (wheat noodles in broth topped with aburaage). Both make for delicious light meals.
Nintendo
Nintendo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese multinational consumer electronics and video game company headquartered in Kyoto. The company was founded in 1889 as Nintendo Karuta by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade hanafuda playing cards. After venturing into various lines of business during the 1960s and acquiring a legal status as a public company under the current company name, Nintendo distributed its first video game console, the Color TV-Game, in 1977. It gained international recognition with the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985.
Since then, Nintendo has produced some of the most successful consoles in the video game industry, such as the Game Boy, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, the Nintendo DS, the Wii, and the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo has also released numerous influential franchises, including Animal Crossing, Donkey Kong, Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Kirby, Metroid, Fire Emblem, Splatoon, Star Fox, Super Smash Bros., and Pokémon.
(Wikipedia)
The Sagano and Arashiyama districts are located in the western part of Kyoto, and are the city’s second most popular area for sightseeing. In the eighth century, aristocrats often came to this area of rice fields and bamboo woods to enjoy the colored leaves or to go boating.
The landscape today is still reminiscent of that period, and you can still visit a number of former villas connected with the nobility, which now serve as small temples.
Seiryoji Temple
Also known as Saga Shakado, Seiryoji Temple was constructed in 895 as a replica of Wutai Shan or Qingliang Shan of China. The temple has as its principal image a wooden standing statue of Shaka, one of the three most famous Buddhas of Japan.
The temple’s principal image has an unusual background and is considered historically invaluable. A Shaka statue commissioned by the ancient Indian king Udayana was brought to China. In 985, a Japanese monk named Chonen had an accurate replica of the statue made in Sung Dynasty China, which he brought to Japan.
With crystalline ears and ropy hair, the image is significantly different from other Buddhist images common in Japan. Later, a number of Buddhist images were made as “Seiryoji-style” images in imitation.
The statue has more recently become known as the “Ikimi Nyorai” (flesh-and-blood Buddha) after a study revealed its earholes and nasal cavaties were connected. In addition to this discovery, models of internal organs made of silk were found inside the statue. These are believed to be the oldest of their kind anywhere.
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