Amida Hall

Amida Hall is built to honor the beginning of Buddhism. Prince Shotoku's portrait hangs on the right side inside the temple so everyone can honor him for being the "'father' of Japanese Buddhism".
Buddhism originated from Indian to China and transcended to Japan. "Today, about 90 million Japanese consider themselves Buddhism. Though the Buddhism doesn't affect your daily life, it can still be practice during funerals or display in house home altars."

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2055.html

Osaka Castle

Japanese culture is older than Osaka Castle; however, the culture grew and developed alongside Osaka Castle starting in 1496. During the time of the Osaka Castle, there were two leaders, Hideyoshi Toyotomi and Tokugawa Shogun. During each leader’s rule, the culture was changed according to each leader’s liking. After the period of their rule, the people rejected and accepted different aspects of culture from each period, just like the castle. The castle was fixed with new materials, but you can still find the original stones in which it was built outside Osaka Castle.


http://www.tracyanddale.50megs.com/Japan/html%20files/osakac.html

Welcome!

I took a picture of a Welcome sign that was in front a friend’s host family’s door. These door signs are seen in the US as well. But like our reading this week, people may have a welcome sign up but are outsiders really welcome? Visitors that are invited by the host family are always welcome whether the invitation is sincere or not, but what about the ones that just show up at the doorsteps? Are they welcome inside the house? Will they be treated well because they are visitors or will they be ignored? Most of the time if the visitor isn’t invited before hand, the host family will most likely be annoyed but will treat their visitor with proper etiquettes by offering drinks.