Nara: A Must-See in Japan

              I like Nara the best, probably because I grew up in the city, a place unlike Nara. Nara was the very first permanent capital of Japan, it is a place full with natural beauty, temples and shrines.

On my way to Nara, near by Nara

              One of the most famous temples in Nara is Todaiji Temple.  It is famous for having been named one of the largest wooden buildings and largest bronze Buddha statue in the world. On your way walking to Todaiji Temple, there are deer everywhere. They are like mice in New York City train stations. Often times you see visitors feeding the deer cookies or the deer biting visitors. Once you buy a cookie from the shop, you must feed the deer right away, otherwise the deer might jump at and bite you. I learned my lesson from not feeding them right away!

Todaiji Temple

               Walking a few minutes to the east of Todaiji Temple, there is a very famous Shinto shrine called Kasuga Taisha Shrine. It is famous for having a thousand bronze lanterns, as well as two thousand stone lanterns.   

Deers are biting me photo by Xiao Rui Lin

 

              Another temple you should visit is Ryosenji Temple, for it is the biggest and, in my opinion, the best temple I have visited so far. A few things you must see while visiting Ryosenji Temple are the Rose Garden, Three-Floor Pagoda, Main Hall and Herbal bath,etc. I like the Rose Garden the most, because there are 200 species of roses and the whole garden is full of their scent. Inside the Rose Garden there's also a cafe, I strongly recommend to try out the rose ice-cream because it smells and tastes like a real rose and it's made to look like one too. There's also rose tea, rose sugar and rose coffee you could try it out too. Mid May till Mid November is probably is the best time to visit the rose garden.

                                                     

The Rose Garden

                                                             Rose ice-cream

              If you are interested in experiencing countryside living as well as visiting temples and shrines, I strongly recommend you visit Nara. There are a lot more about Nara you could discover.

Who is leading young woman fashion @ Japan

              Upon arriving in Japan, you will be received with myriad fashions and soon enough, you will find out more about the distinctive Japanese fashion style. Anywhere you go in Japan, you will find some amazing street fashion, especially in places such as Shinjuku, Ginza, Shibuya 109, and Hirajuku. 

Shibuya 109

              In Hirajuku, you will often see Gothic Lolita fashion girls, doll-like young women wearing Victorian-style clothes. There are also Sweet Lolita clothing stores in Harajuku. As implied by the name, these stores have very sweet looking dresses with lots of lace and ribbons. Sometimes young women will also carry a cute looking umbrella while walking.

 Hirajuku, with my friends from China-- Chun Yu 

              There are two Shibuya 109 department stores. Shibuya 109 I is an eight-story building filled with young women’s clothes. It is a place where most Japanese women dream to shop. The whole building is full of very sweet-looking fashion, with brands like Liz Lisa, Spiral Girl, Rienda, and Honey Bunch, all of which have a very similar style. The young women who work at these stores always put on heavy black eyeliner and long false eyelashes, as well as blush for pink cheeks and lip color for pink lips. They have yellow curly hair and are all very skinny-looking. They are the ones leading and defining most of the Japanese young women’s fashion. Shibuya 109 II is all for men. I did not check the men’s clothing stores, but I assume they must be very popular among young men as well.

Young girlsworks for Liz Lisa clothing store



      There are some very unique things you could discover about Japanese fashion; I only explored a small part of it. Personally, I really like Japanese brands like Liz Lisa, but it is also very expensive. It is very popular among teenage women and almost every mall I go to, I see a Liz Lisa store.

Some Unique Festival for children at Japan

Shichi-Go-San Matsuri　七五三祭り (“Seven-Five-Three Festival”)

Experience Japanese culture with my host family

This photo is taken by my otoosan, Kawamukai Akira

The Shichi-Go-San Festival is on November 15th, but nowadays some people are celebrating it around November 15, since the Shinto shrine is getting too crowded on that day. It is a unique Japanese festival for boys who have just turned three and five years old, as well as girls turning three and seven years old. The families take their children to a Shinto shrine, the children wear the kimono and carry a long bag of candy called Chitose-ame,（千歳あめ）meaning long life candy. The candy is both red and white, which represents good fortune. They have to enter the gate (tori), symbolizing the way to the god’s house. While they enter the shrine, the monk spreads some water on children’s heads and a Buddhist symbol stamp on top of each. They are quietly sit in front of the Buddha until the ceremony ends. The children often receive gifts from their relatives; most often the grandparents put money in a envelop as a gift. They take lots pictures in the shrine to preserve the memory.

For more information about Shichi-Go-San Matsuri, please check:

http://worldculturenet.com/2006/11/14/shichi-go-san-matsuri-%E2%80%9Cseven-five-three-festival%E2%80%9D/

My Otoosan Granddaughter, Rua（る亜）

Omiya-Mairi(宮参り) 

A young mami bring her baby to the shrine

Another unique festival in Japan is omiya-mairi(宮参り) , a festival for a baby thirty days after birth. The purpose of this festival is the same as Shichi-Go-San Matsuri, to give thanks go God(s) and to pray for children to continue to have good health and prosperity. Most likely the parents take their children to the shrine, but traditionally some people believe that when a woman period come, they are dirty and not allow to enter the tori. Therefore, the grandparents take the baby to the shrine.

During  the ceremony