The Same Umbrella: Nara

Saturday started with another 3:00am boarding time for an MWR tour bus, this time bound for Nara. This trip came highly recommended, but our expectations were admittedly lower than when we headed for famous Kyoto. Boy were we wrong! It turns out that Nara is not only an ancient capital of Japan and home to several UNESCO world heritage sites (much like Kyoto), but also offers a beautifully preserved and open landscape, a variety of wildlife and a fascinating history (as well as some delicious fried chicken).

We began our day by exploring Todaiji Temple, which was first dedicated in 752 A.D. Although the original buildings and signature giant Buddha statue were destroyed by fire and earthquakes over the years, the reconstructions are very impressive and still old by American standards. The Great Buddha that now stands in the temple dates from 1692 and is only 2/3 the size of the original bronze statue, which exhausted almost all of Japan's bronze during several years of construction and practically bankrupted the country. Supposedly, these efforts paid off since the temple grew to be so powerful that the capital of Japan was moved away from Nara in order to diminish its influence on governmental affairs. One of the highlights of this temple was attempting to crawl through the "healing pillars" behind the Great Buddha. According to tradition, anyone who successfully maneuvers through the hole is destined for Heaven. John and Jennifer both made it, so I guess in this case it's too bad we're not Buddhist :-). We also had our first Nara "wildlife" encounter at this temple when we were greeted by countless deer (well, someone once upon a time counted and came up with 1200) who roam extensively and are revered as "messengers of the gods".

Not-So-Wild Deer

Incredible Wooden Architecture

The Great Buddha

Impressive Wooden Carvings

You're home free once you get an arm through!

Can you find Jennifer? (hint: lower left)

John - Always with style!

Our next stop was Kasuga Taisha Shrine, the Shinto shrine of the influential Fujiwara family who sent several daughters to marry into the imperial family. Although probably not part of the Fujiwara clan, we did see a bride being pampered for pictures after she and her new husband reported their marriage to the gods at the shrine. The noteworthy characteristic of this site were the thousands of lanterns that grace the pathways of the grounds and the temple itself. We also enjoyed the immense variety of trees along peaceful and meandering walkways. The tree canopies we so love were comprised of not one but many types of trees, offering various colors and textures to shade our paths.