Toji Temple Market

Toji is a Buddhist temple in Kyoto. Inside Toji temple you will find “Yakushi Nyorai, the healing Buddha”. The pagoda at Toji is also “the tallest wooden tower in Japan”. “On the 21st of every month, a market is held at Toji temple in honor of Kōbō Daishi who died on the 21st of March”. Many people set up tents in front of the temple to sell antiques and food.

The products are sold for a decent price. I bought a sake set for ten dollars. The set was in great condition. The following month, I went back with my friends for a second visit to see if we could get another deal on more pots, which we did. She bought a set of four plates for three dollars. Toji Market is a great place to buy sovernirs for a decent price.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C5%8D-ji

Danjiri Matsuri

The Danjiri Matsuri started 400 years ago as a festival to pray to God for a good harvest. Many still believe that a God resides inside Danjiri. Danjiri is a wooden cart shaped like a shrine. Inside Danjiri, men are playing the flute and drums. Danjiri is carried by many men and children while yelling kakegoe (heave-ho!). The youngest will be farthest from Danjiri and the oldest nearest. The festival is celebrated by many towns so each town wears a different happi coat and headband to distinguish itself.
Danjiri is carried slowly throughout a town until they reach a turn. The turn is the most difficult task to perform while carrying Danjiri. Everyone has to cooperate and run as fast as they can in order to turn Danjiri properly. If Danjiri were to fall or hit something; the men inside and outside can be seriously injured. Despite the casualties, the participating towns love celebrating Danjiri. Many come out to cheer for their towns and loved ones who are carrying Danjiri.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danjiri_Matsuri
http://www.op97.k12.il.us/cyberteen/2003/fall/danjirifes/begin.html

Blog Essay 1

Japanese Sign Language is Visual Anthropology, too…

This posting was very informative about how culture is implemented in body language. This is the first time I’ve heard that Japanese sign language has keigo, too. I suppose honoring the elder is part of culture; therefore, whatever language you speak, you must still honor the elders.

The author also did a great job at showing us how genki both the guest and students were at learning Japanese Sign Language with the photos. I liked how the author added the example of “older brother” in the post. It definitely gave me an idea of how sign languages vary from country to country. They don’t just vary with the countries; they also vary within the country. The author mentioned that Japanese Sign Language varied from four different cities within Japan.

The flow of this post is smooth and understandable. He started off by telling us how the study group formed and his role in it. The he ended the post with his hope for his students and the future of sign language by hoping that they’ve learned something about sign language in the study group. In other words, this study group started for the students and ended in hopes that the student can better the world.


http://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2006/12/japanese-sign-language-is-visual.html

Shosei-en Garden

The Shosei-en Garden belongs to Higashi Honganji temple. The garden is also known as Kikoku-tei (Orange Grove) because of the orange trees planted there. The pond in this garden was made by Prince Minamoto no Toru. He wanted the pond to resemble Shiogama seacoast of Oku province and filled the pond with seawater from Namba.
The garden site was given th HIgashi Honganji from the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu in 1641. In 1643, Ishikawa Jozan created the garden, which was destroyed in a fire in 1858 and 1864. The garden was rebuilt in 1865 to its orignal condition. Today, the garden is designated as a National Historic Site.

*Information on Shosei-en Garden was cited from a pamphlet given at the garden.