Spring Day

Sunday's weather was perfect! We weren't the only ones who thought so. Nevertheless, we joined the throngs to head up to Kiyomizu-dera, one of the most famous temples in Kyoto. Believe it or not, we have not been here yet. I'm glad we waited. Here's the street on the way.

Some people had on spring kimono for sightseeing.

Others just wore t-shirts.

Kiyomizu is up, up, up on a hill, and has several buildings.

Before we entered the main gate, we all got to experience the "womb of buddha." You take off your shoes and go down stairs, holding on to a railing that turns into a string of large wooden prayer beads the size of pool balls. It is completely dark, and the wooden floor underneath is kind of smooth and lumpy. The tunnel winds this way and that, and there is a kind of stone thing you can see that is illuminated at the end. Then you come back up the stairs. Here's the ticket:

You weren't supposed to take photos in there, but I took one anyway. Here it is:

The womb of Buddha is fer sher among the top 2 strangest things I have ever done in Japan. I can't decide if it's weirder than the fish who eat your feet, or not.

It was even weirder than this guy.

Other than re-experiencing our original birthdays, we all enjoyed the blossoms a lot.

One of our kids is standing out there on that corner...can't remember who.
In this part of the temple, you can try to lift these very heavy metal pole things.
And you can imagine trying to wear these iron torture geta. (This is the bottom of one of the shoes).


Nice view of Kyoto up top.

We walked back through one of the minor Geisha/Maiko districts, near gojo.

The different maiko districts are holding "Spring dances" this time of year. We are going on Friday!