Day Eleven - Nara.
Aug. 1st, 2009 02:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sechan19I was up early again to catch the 8:36 train to Nara. It put me into the JR Nara station just little after nine-thirty.
From the JR station, it was something of a walk to the Nara National Park - where the bulk of the city's attractions are. When I arrived, I went first to the temple of Kofukuji - where I took a few pictures of the main hall and pagoda (which is, I believe, the second tallest pagoda in Japan... topped only by the pagoda of Toji in Kyoto). I then went straight into the Treasure Hall, where there was a delightful collection of guardian kings, demon quellers, and other types of grotesques.
The collection of grotesques further spurred my thinking about my future dissertation project. It's hard to explain just how, but I guess the easiest way to explain is that I'm becoming more and more aware of different types of grotesque imagery and trying to think through the various possible intents with and applications of said imagery. Obviously, the grotesqueness of a Buddhist guardian king has a different intended impact than that of the grotesqueness of a scroll illustrating a night parade of monsters.
After I left Toji, I went on to the Nara National Museum where I had the opportunity to see some really incredible pieces - including the bronze Lotus Sutra plaque of Hasedera and a very fine Tanjobutsu (birth of the Buddha) statue. They also had an exhibition on about the transportation of Buddhist doctrine and culture from Ningbo, China from the 8th century on. There was a "portrait" of Sugawara no Michizane in the show, as well as Sesshu's famed Haboku (broken ink) Landscape. Sesshu paintings are always a revelation in the flesh.
The museum shop in Nara turned out to be far more profitable than the museum in Kyoto had been. I purchased four books - including an exhibition catalogue of Japanese painting from the 11th through 13th centuries. Super score!
With my purchases squared away, I had lunch in a noodle shop a short distance from the museum. There was a museum restaurant, but they wanted $12 for a simple salad and I had an idea that the noodle shop was likely to be both good and cheap. It was.
It was also really traditional. The seating area was located outside under an overhanging roof and consisted of a range of low planks, covered in rattan and lacking in table. The menu options were soba or udon. Each came with some dried seaweed for garnish, and soy sauce, wasabi, and green onions for dipping. I ordered the udon, which was fresh and delightfully cool, and the women there very kindly brought me a short tea table to stand on the plank.
I ate my noodles, and drank the perfectly mixed green tea, and watched the deer meandering about.
I haven't mentioned the deer in Nara, have I? They are so totally everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Used to a constant feeding by tourists (both Japanese and foreign), they have no fear of human beings and can be downright pushy. While I was eating, a big buck came into the restaurant (much to the amusement of the servers) and ambled right up to me. "Kuimono motte nai, yo. Gomen ne," I said to him. (I don't have any food. Sorry.) This was also to the amusement of the servers. When he had satisfied himself that I was not telling any fibs about the food, he turned his back to me and plunked himself down in the middle of the floor. I couldn't help but feel disapproved of.
With my meal finished, I paid and walked on to Todaiji. At this point, I was honestly feeling like I could go the rest of my life without seeing another damn temple. (What with all the temples on Mount Hiei, and the temples in Kyoto, and the temples in Nara.) However, the Todaiji and its Great Buddha are so important that I felt I really could not leave without seeing them.
I mean, the Great Buddha of Todaiji is the world's largest cast bronze sculpture, and the Buddha Hall was a vital center for the exercise of power throughout Japanese history.
No question, really. On I went.
The Great Buddha was, indeed, great. He towered over the collection of spectators that had gathered at his heels, looking fixedly (but benevolently) down upon us all in magisterial detachment. I took numerous photos, and then I turned tail for the station. I had been walking for over five hours, and I had had it.
Back at the train station I hopped on the outbound Nara line train and was back to Kyoto within the hour. I went straight to the hostel, where I took a long hot shower - massaging my feet, heels, ankles, calves, and thighs. In the past two days I had walk/hiked something in the neighborhood of eight (or more) miles, and I could feel it. I got into my jammies and resolved not to budge an inch from the hostel for the rest of the night.
I wound up eating candy in bed, chatting with my mom and watching Tak Sakaguchi kick people in the head on my HPmini. I passed out well before ten.
Good times.
PS - For all of the fans of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
life_of_spork, you'll be happy to hear that he's been enjoying the trip immensely. Oddly enough, he enjoys all the perplexed looks from strangers, and he's developed quite a thing for these twin chopsticks he met at the Kyoto hostel. Such a Mac Daddy...
From the JR station, it was something of a walk to the Nara National Park - where the bulk of the city's attractions are. When I arrived, I went first to the temple of Kofukuji - where I took a few pictures of the main hall and pagoda (which is, I believe, the second tallest pagoda in Japan... topped only by the pagoda of Toji in Kyoto). I then went straight into the Treasure Hall, where there was a delightful collection of guardian kings, demon quellers, and other types of grotesques.
The collection of grotesques further spurred my thinking about my future dissertation project. It's hard to explain just how, but I guess the easiest way to explain is that I'm becoming more and more aware of different types of grotesque imagery and trying to think through the various possible intents with and applications of said imagery. Obviously, the grotesqueness of a Buddhist guardian king has a different intended impact than that of the grotesqueness of a scroll illustrating a night parade of monsters.
After I left Toji, I went on to the Nara National Museum where I had the opportunity to see some really incredible pieces - including the bronze Lotus Sutra plaque of Hasedera and a very fine Tanjobutsu (birth of the Buddha) statue. They also had an exhibition on about the transportation of Buddhist doctrine and culture from Ningbo, China from the 8th century on. There was a "portrait" of Sugawara no Michizane in the show, as well as Sesshu's famed Haboku (broken ink) Landscape. Sesshu paintings are always a revelation in the flesh.
The museum shop in Nara turned out to be far more profitable than the museum in Kyoto had been. I purchased four books - including an exhibition catalogue of Japanese painting from the 11th through 13th centuries. Super score!
With my purchases squared away, I had lunch in a noodle shop a short distance from the museum. There was a museum restaurant, but they wanted $12 for a simple salad and I had an idea that the noodle shop was likely to be both good and cheap. It was.
It was also really traditional. The seating area was located outside under an overhanging roof and consisted of a range of low planks, covered in rattan and lacking in table. The menu options were soba or udon. Each came with some dried seaweed for garnish, and soy sauce, wasabi, and green onions for dipping. I ordered the udon, which was fresh and delightfully cool, and the women there very kindly brought me a short tea table to stand on the plank.
I ate my noodles, and drank the perfectly mixed green tea, and watched the deer meandering about.
I haven't mentioned the deer in Nara, have I? They are so totally everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Used to a constant feeding by tourists (both Japanese and foreign), they have no fear of human beings and can be downright pushy. While I was eating, a big buck came into the restaurant (much to the amusement of the servers) and ambled right up to me. "Kuimono motte nai, yo. Gomen ne," I said to him. (I don't have any food. Sorry.) This was also to the amusement of the servers. When he had satisfied himself that I was not telling any fibs about the food, he turned his back to me and plunked himself down in the middle of the floor. I couldn't help but feel disapproved of.
With my meal finished, I paid and walked on to Todaiji. At this point, I was honestly feeling like I could go the rest of my life without seeing another damn temple. (What with all the temples on Mount Hiei, and the temples in Kyoto, and the temples in Nara.) However, the Todaiji and its Great Buddha are so important that I felt I really could not leave without seeing them.
I mean, the Great Buddha of Todaiji is the world's largest cast bronze sculpture, and the Buddha Hall was a vital center for the exercise of power throughout Japanese history.
No question, really. On I went.
The Great Buddha was, indeed, great. He towered over the collection of spectators that had gathered at his heels, looking fixedly (but benevolently) down upon us all in magisterial detachment. I took numerous photos, and then I turned tail for the station. I had been walking for over five hours, and I had had it.
Back at the train station I hopped on the outbound Nara line train and was back to Kyoto within the hour. I went straight to the hostel, where I took a long hot shower - massaging my feet, heels, ankles, calves, and thighs. In the past two days I had walk/hiked something in the neighborhood of eight (or more) miles, and I could feel it. I got into my jammies and resolved not to budge an inch from the hostel for the rest of the night.
I wound up eating candy in bed, chatting with my mom and watching Tak Sakaguchi kick people in the head on my HPmini. I passed out well before ten.
Good times.
PS - For all of the fans of
life_of_spork, you'll be happy to hear that he's been enjoying the trip immensely. Oddly enough, he enjoys all the perplexed looks from strangers, and he's developed quite a thing for these twin chopsticks he met at the Kyoto hostel. Such a Mac Daddy...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-08-01 11:30 am (UTC)At the end of last summer, I felt this way about museums. I'd been averaging four a week, and was heartily sick of them. Not as bad this year, but that's because I'm a lazy slug this year.
no subject
Date: 2009-08-02 12:20 pm (UTC)I swear, I was standing in front of that giant Buddha thinking to myself, "Man, I hate Buddha. Fuck that guy." And Spork was like, "Whoa, you need a nap." ;>
no subject
Date: 2009-08-02 05:58 pm (UTC)