Fushimi Inari Taisha

13th April

The day started with a really wonderful chat with my room- mate as we ate breakfast. I don't even know her name! Sometimes it's crazy, whilst travelling you might have these in-depth conversations with someone and the last thing you think to ask is their name. 

I know she is from Germany and is six months into a year in Japan, volunteering and working - her gap year before University - before she begins a Psychology degree. Hence she is very interested in the Psychology behind the people of Japan and the society that has shaped them. We agreed that people everywhere, all over the world, are essentially the same. So I asked her what was interesting or different about the Japanese that she had noticed - her being here much longer and having a Japanese boyfriend too.

Of course everyone sees how polite the people are. This is how they come across, because it is their society that has 'conditioned' them to be that way. She said, with the people it's sometimes more about what they don't say that's important. For example, she said that in a restaurant, a chef might ask whether you enjoyed the food - lets say Steak & vegetables - and the person will answer that they enjoyed the vegetables very much. So because they didn't mention the steak, the Japanese chef will wonder what was wrong with the steak? Why didn't they mention the steak? whereas a European chef might just look at the positive and think, great! they liked the vegetables.........

This is obviously extremely generalistic but its part of the ingrained 'politeness'

I've noticed this a bit in my Japanese book, since it's written from the perspective of a Japanese person. Many times in it the characters have difficulty expressing anything negative, even though they might be thinking it in their mind. They often think one thing but say another.

I guess all people do this to be polite or to 'people please' but I feel it might be enhanced here. I feel like on the outside is a cute bunny or hello kitty face whilst inside there's this angry looking Samurai with his sword drawn ready to fight......

The other thing she said is that so much gets misunderstood or 'lost in translation' ha ha....and I wonder how much has been lost from my book in the translation to English.

The other interesting thing was that she had visited Vietnam during her six months and had done a trip, with her sister, to the Mekong delta, funny enough!

It was after this that she became very sick and ended up in a Vietnamese hospital with Dengue fever!

This of course interested me greatly, but it was her account of the hospital which was so bad. She said they had no air-conditioning (despite so many hotels and even hostels being air-conditioned) and the walls were mouldy. She said people were lying about wounded and bleeding and the nurses were tired and over-run with work......(sounds slightly like our A&E.......)

It is expected that relatives take care of their loved ones, not just in basic care but also, they are told to give medication during the night etc. and to not call the nurse for this. She said it was OK when her sister was able to be there but she had to leave to go home and being left alone was a bit scary.

Fortunately (and obviously) she recovered OK!

We also had a really good chat about AI - I won't go into all of that too - but we both felt guilty for using ChatGPT to make travel plans.

So it was ChatGPT I consulted to decide what to do today in Kyoto. It mentioned the Fushimi Inari Shrine, dedicated to the Shinto God of rice, and features hundreds of vermillion torii gates which lead from the ordinary world to the sacred ground.

I'd seen this on Michelle & Jisse's blog so I decided to go.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3915.html

When I arrived it was packed with people and I very nearly turned around & left but I had come on the train and a shame to waste the journey.......I only came because it said it was free.

There were lots of people dressed in hired Kymonos......it reminded me of the temples in Thailand. I dunno.....some people look cool but generally westerners dressed up in this way just look a bit sad & daft and when you're this size........really....?

.....oh I'm so mean...sorry lady.

.......my face probably says it all, but I persisted through the gates further up the mountain & it's amazing how making the effort to go further up - where a lot of people are just a bit too lazy to go - the crowds disperse to just a handful of people. 

These weird dog statues were everywhere & I thought they were fascinating, though I discovered later they are foxes and are the messengers of the Inari Gods

To get to the top you passed through this cool bamboo forest

This made me laugh as I remember listening to the radio in New Zealand over Christmas and the DJ saying its really popular to have KFC on Christmas day in Japan. 

At the top.....

I really enjoyed the walk up & down and the view was pretty......I love the different shades of green in the trees

At the temples the people pray in a certain way - they bow & clap - and also sprinkle water.

You could pray to your zodiac animal....mine the pig or boar

and apparently there are wild boar in the forests 

There are charms for every single type of luck! and you could buy a little porcelain fox with your fortune written inside.......

I wonder, surely if you get told your fortune....of course it will come true as you will be swayed by whats written and somehow make it happen.......

The main Shrine had a Horse inside....I'm guessing as its the year of the horse 2026.

Marayuma Park 

More toilet fun - this baby seat is very handy for holding your bag when you use the loo.

There are many enormous crows or ravens in Japan. Scarily big & loud! Here are some looking tiny in this picture:

I got two buses back but as I left the first one my IC card didn't have enough money on it.......lucky I had a 1000 yen note stashed in my bag (I was keeping as a souvenir but - oh well) No way was the bus driver gonna let me off. They are very strict in Japan. There are sometimes traffic officers at crossings and they get very cross if you walk in the road or walk across when the 'man with the hat' sign is red. The crossings make a weird little chirpy noise for when to go. 

Streets around the hostel:

Hostel steps

The quirky decor I was talking about.....from the 60s - 70s perhaps?