Inquiry in Japan - Day 1
Photo Galleries | Posted Feb 11, 2011
Program: Inquiry
Sunday, January 2
We met up after breakfast as a whole group at Kyoto Tower, and surveyed the city from its only 360-degree viewpoint. Then we traveled by train to the Kyoto suburb of Nara, where we observed hatsumode, the first shrine visit of the New Year in Japan.
There we visited the historic monuments of ancient Nara, collectively deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site, including Todai-ji, which is the largest wooden building in the world, housing the world’s largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana (known in Japanese as Daibutsu). We enjoyed a delicious lunch, got our fortunes read, and interacted with the Sika deer, which are regarded as holy messengers in Shintoism, and freely roam the grounds of Nara.