Horyuji:  The World's Oldest Surviving Wooden Structure:

     Horyuji started building in the mid 6th century A.D. through the 8th century A.D.  In honor of his father's dying wish to build a temple and image of Buddha, the Crown Prince Shotoku built Horyuji which houses the large Buddha statue.  Horyuji includes over 2,300 historial artifacts and buildings which date back over 1,300 years.  This includes Nandaimon (South Main Gate), Kondo (Main Hall), Goju-no-To (Five Story Pagoda), Daikodo (Great Lecture Hall), Kyozo (Sutra Repository), Shoro (Bell House), Kami-no-Mido (Inner Sanctuary), Saiendo (West Round Hall), Shoryoin (Hall of Prince Shotoku's Soul), Daihozoin (Gallery of Temple Treasures), Kudara Kannon do (The Kudara Kannon Hall), Todaimon (East Main Gate), Yumedono (Hall of Visions), Shariden (Reliquary Hall), Eden (Hall of Paintings), Denpodo (Hall of Buddhist Teachings), and the Toin Shoro (Bell House of the Eastern Precinct).  The overall grounds are very impressive with many different buildings and sights to see.

Horyuji:  The World's Oldest Surviving Wooden Structure
Approach	Left Guardian Deity	Front View	Right Guardian Deity	Old Tree Trunk	Carving
Historical Sight	Walkway	Overview	Architecture	Bronze Dragon	5 Story Pagoda

Jiko-In Zen Temple:

     The Jiko-In Zen Temple was founded four hundred years ago as a memorial to Sekishu Katagiri's father's departed soul.  It was a place where he could go to meditate, pray, and learn the way of the Zen Buddhism.  Along with this, he learned the art of the Tea Ceremony in the serene garden which is famous for incorporating the use of green shrubs and rocks into the landscape.  The Tea Ceremony room is served by a Buddhist monk who overseas the theory and practice of the 'Beauty of Wabi' tea ceremony.  A typical tea garden is made using short walkways lined with trimmed greenery going to the tea house.

Jiko-In Zen Temple
Prologue	Entrance	Temple	Shoes	Inside Out	Overview
Ceremony Monk	Garden View	Berries	Shrine	Bamboo	Temple View
Lashed Bamboo	Rock/Shrubs	Meditation Area	Priest	Tile Roof	Inner Room

Isuien:

     Nara's famous promenade garden is called Isuien.  The garden represents the Meiji Period (1868-1912) and has been designated as an "official spot of scenic beauty".  Visitors will find the garden to be peaceful and filled with colors in the autumn season.  Streams trickling into ponds filled with enormous koi provide water for the trees, shrubs, and vegetation that fill the Isuien garden.

Isuien Garden of the Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Japanese Food:

     Japanese food includes sticky rice or noodles, soups, sushi (a combination of raw fish and vinegared rice),  sashimi (sliced raw fish that is separate from rice), and fish but almost anything can be found on the menu for types of meat.  One traditional type of fried Japanese food is called tempura.  Tempura consists of batter dipped vegetables or shrimp that is cooked very briefly in hot oil and then served hot.  Eating tables are low to the ground with mats on the floor for people to sit on when eating.  The Japanese people leave their shoes at the entryway when moving into the serving room and eat in their socks while sitting on the floor.  Along with the tempura, there was a custard (Chawan-mushi which means 'steamed cup') which had shrimp in it,  an orange, rice, and water.  (The fun part was sitting on the floor through the meal after traveling on stiff legs for twelve hours on the plane the day before...)

Japanese Food
Tempura Cooks	Frying Tempura	Dining Tables	Tempura	Waiting to Eat	Close Up

Sushi Bar:

     A favorite Japanese food is called sushi (click to play the 37 second video).  Sushi consists of raw fish and vinegared rice that is served in small portions.  It may be dipped in soy sauce (along with wasabi) to add flavor.  Prices at the side street shops range from 200 to 600 yen ($2 to $6 American dollars) for a small plate with two pieces of sushi on them.  Some combination plates go much higher into the 25000 yen range.  At a sushi bar, customers sit at the counter or small tables on the floor where they place their orders.  The food is prepared by the sushi cook who makes their orders fresh by slicing the sushi directly from the raw or cooked fish and carefully arranging them onto small plates for the table.

Sushi Bar
Outside Curtain	Storefront	Tuna and Octopus	Prep Counter	Just Friends
Sushi Bar	Sushi Plate	Preperation	Raw Fish	Preparing Food

 Kyo Ryouri Minami Restaurant:

     The Kyo Ryouri Minami Restaurant is located in the Nara prefecture.  The owner, Mr. Mitsuhiro Minami, is a very gracious host and an excellent Japanese food chef.  He is a special friend of Yoshiko which allowed us to spend a very enjoyable evening socializing together as we ate a 10 course Japanese meal with a wide variety of fine dining experiences.  The name of the restaurant, 'Kyo Ryouri' means upper-class Kyoto cuisine.  The restaurant specializes in seasonal foods prepared in the artistically meticulous style of 'Kyo Ryouri' or upper-class Kyoto cuisine.  As a visitor, I was amazed as course after course kept appearing with the foods artistically deigned, prepared, and excellent to taste!  A wonderful experience that we shared with the family and restaurant!  I would highly recommend it to visitors wanting to experience authentic Japanese prepared food.

10 Course Authentic Japanese Meal from the Kyo Ryouri Minami Restaurant in Naro
Course Menu	Course 1	Course 2	Course 3	Course 4	Course 5
Course 6	Course 6 Unwrapped	Course 7	Course 8	Course 9	Course 10

Bento (Box Lunch) and O-sechi (holiday boxes):

     A staple of Japanese food is a box lunch called a Bento.  Many Japanese students and business workers eat lunches from their Bento boxes daily.  Ingredients can consist of seafood, vegetable tempura, sashimi, vegetables, roots and radishes, and other which are sent with students and workers for their lunches.

     Special holidays can include O-sechi boxes (below).  Osechi boxes are complex and time consuming to prepare.  O-sechi  boxes can be purchased at the local supermarket or made at home.  Traditional O-sechi boxes were originally prepared to be eaten during the Kabuki theatre breaks.  Ranging in price from low to high, O-sechi boxes come in a wide range (the example shows the 19950 Yen box costing $199.50 American dollars).   The larger variety boxes are store bought or prepared by restaurants for the consumer.  Many families place orders with department stores in advance of New Year's and pick up the boxes in time for New Year's Day.  The more expensive boxes are usually shared one per family.

O-sechi
5250 Yen	Meats	Exotic	Variety Box	19950 Yen	Dessert

McDonalds:

     The Japanese McDonalds is very similar to those in the United States.  Visitors will find the same menu with American hamburgers, french fries, and coke on the menu displayed above the counter.  (Those not familiar with Japanese will have no trouble pointing to something on menu and ordering the exact same thing they would expect to receive back home.)  McDonalds is very popular with the young teenage crowd where they can frequently be seen sitting at tables with their friends talking, laughing, and conversing on their cell phones.  Other tables will have individual students doing their homework and studying for classes.

McDonalds
Storefront	Cashier	Studying	More Studying	Having Fun	Music and Study

Religion:

     Japan has an interesting mixture of religion composed primarily of Shinto and Buddhism.  When times are good and fun, the Shinto aspect is predominant whereas the Buddhism part is prevalent during times of seriousness or death.  The Japanese people have many rituals for good fortune which are evident when visiting temples, shrines, or religious communities.  Examples of good fortune might include placing incense in a large caldron and waving the smoke into one's hair and clothing, paying 100 yen ($1) to draw out a fortune stick with horoscopes on them (when they are good, they are kept but when they are bad, they are tied to wires on a pole and 'released' from the individual), or using a dipper to take a drink out of a water trough three times and then pouring the left over water into a drain below.  Clothing reflects the special religious or formal occasions which will be traditional colorful kimonos or religious dress.  As people walk along the small streets to the main temples, they have an opportunity to walk between the many small shops which sell colorful trinkets, clothes, and inexpensive items.  (Side note:  Christmas decorations can be found sold on the streets.  The Japanese will exchange Christmas gifts but the religious aspect of the day has very little meaning to the majority of Japanese.)

Kabuki:

     Japanese Dance  (click to play 15 second video) consists of song, dance, and makeup.  Elaborately choreographed stories are told which in ancient times were depicted by men dressing up as both the male and female characters.  Costumes consist of colorful kimonos, face painting, and wigs to convey the various courtesans, samurai, and street people in the productions.  Theatre was originally considered to be a low class form of entertainment (actors had no connection to contributing to the general society so were considered to be low on the morality scale) that was popular with the working class.

Pacific Ocean:

     The Pacific Ocean is off the tip of Hase, Japan.  The beach by the ocean is very limited since the houses and shops go right up to the shorefront but it is still a huge an exciting view.  Japanese swimmers, surfboarders, and windsurfers take advantage of the waves as they go out to have some fun.  The Pacific Ocean can be seen from many of the hills or temples in Hase which are built high up where they can enjoy the quiet nature trails rather than being below in the crowded town.

Pacific Ocean
Boat on Beach	People	Scenic View	Sailboarding	Playing in Sand	Sailboards

Hasedera (The Hase Kannon Temple):

     Located in Kamakura City, Kanagawa prefecture, the Hase Kannon Temple was built to honor the goddess Kannon and the temple is referenced to as the 'Garden of Bliss'.  It is built high on a hill above the Pacific Ocean with serene views from within its gates.  The Hase Kannon Temple houses one of the Buddhist images known as the 'Hase Kannon'.  The Buddhist statue has 11 heads above the main head and is made in the Hasedera style.  As with other temples, worshippers will find many of the traditional memorial statues, good fortune candles,  water for cleansing the spirit, and quiet places to walk and meditate.  After visiting the Hase Kannon Temple, families can sit down and eat a quiet meal while resting and relaxing in the temple area.

Statues with Red Clothing:

     Visitors to the many Japanese temples (such as the Hase Kannon Temple above) will find a quiet, secluded area where there is a shrine to children who have died as infants.  The parents either decorate the one large statue with some type of red clothing to help send the infant's soul on to the next level of being or can have a small statue placed into the temple on a personal level and decorate that statue.  In addition to the red clothing, there may be flowers, glasses of water, or some personal article that is meaningful to the parent for the child.

Statues with Red Clothing

Ikebana (Flower Arranging):

     Ikebana is the Japanese term for arranging flowers in an artistic manner.  Typically used during the tea ceremony, decorative flowers are used to help enhance the tea ceremony mood.  Currently, over 3,000 Ikebana schools exist in Japan where students can go and study flower arranging. 

Ikebana (Flower Arranging) with Yoshiko
Cut Branches	Tie Brace	Branches in Vase	Insert Flowers	More Flowers	Arrange Flowers
Insert Flowers	Final Adjustments	Finished Vase	The Artist!	In the Foyer

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