Nara and Ise

choi

Elizabeth Zach, An Hour from Packed Kyoto, Nara Is an Enlightening Overnight, Including Cordial Deer. Washington Post, Feb 2, 2017
https://www.washingtonpost.com/l ... e3c8cafa_story.html

Note:
(a) "As Japan's first permanent capital [710 - 794], it [Nara 奈良 (市)] easily maintains its noble stature with eight UNESCO World Heritage sites, including the Daibutsu — or giant Buddha — bronze statue housed in an imposing wooden temple"

(b) "Kayoko Kuwahara, my host at the tiny Guesthouse Sakuraya * * * the traditional wood-and-stucco structure"
(i) Guesthouse Sakuraya  桜舎
www.guesthouse-sakuraya.com
(ii) stucco
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stucco

* The stucco is an Italian word, adopted into English.

(c) "I took a day to explore Nara, first indulging in some shopping along the open-air Higashimuki Shopping Mall * * * Nara Park [with sika deer] and was near Tōdai-ji temple * * * cosmic Buddha 大仏 housed inside it 東大寺, but these don’t prepare the visitor for the awesome, towering bronze sculpture, flanked on each side by the golden Kokuzō Bosatsu 虚空蔵 菩薩 — or bodhisattva of memory and wisdom — and Tamonten 多聞天 — called the lord who hears all. Completed in AD 798"
(i) Higashimuki Shōtengai  (奈良市)ひがしむき商店街
http://higashimuki.jp/index_en.html
("The name 'Higashimuki' means 'east-facing [kanji: 東向; where 'higashi' and 'muki' are both nouns in Japanese pronunciations].' During the Nara period (8th century Japan), a big temple named Kofukuji was built. Kofukuji was constructed by the most powerful family of the time, the Fujiwara 藤原 family. It was the custom in those days that all the buildings in the area faced Kofukuji Temple, and so the temple was constructed to the east side of the town houses and stores. People who live in the Higashimuki area continue to use this name even now")

* It is an enclosed, rectangular shopping mall.
(ii) Kōfuku-ji  興福寺
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kōfuku-ji
(The temple is the national headquarters of the Hossō school [(仏教) 法相宗]; "In 710 the temple was * * * moved to its present location, on the east side of the newly constructed capital, Heijō-kyō 平城京 [modeled after 唐の都「長安」], today's Nara * * * Kōfuku-ji was the Fujiwara's tutelary temple")

* tutelary (adj; Did You Know?)
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tutelary
(iii) Nara Park  奈良公園
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nara_Park

* The "shika" (not "sika," which is the ENGLISH spelling) is Japanese pronunciation of kanji 鹿.
(iv) 東大寺  Tōdai-ji
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/東大寺
(華厳宗大本山  (en.wikipedia.org: 'serves as the Japanese headquarters of the Kegon school of Buddhism') )
(A) View photos only.
(B) The author is wrong. This Wiki page states that the Buddha is 大仏 (bronze; 14.7 meters high) is flanked by wooden 虚空蔵菩薩 and 如意輪観音菩薩 -- all three statutes are gilded.  In this "大仏殿（[also known as] 金堂）" are also "多聞天像（金堂東北隅 [310 cm]）" and "広目天像（金堂西北隅 [304 cm]; pronounced in Japan: Kō-moku-ten）" (quotaing this ja.wikiepdia.org page; these are two of 四天王 -- the remaining two statutes of 四天王 were incomplete and remains set aside; all 四天王 were ).  Both 多聞天像 and 広目天像 are wooden covered with with dried lacquer 乾漆像, and were chiseled in Edo period.

(d) "the 8th-century Kasuga Taisha Shrine, tucked deeper in Nara Park and painted a jolting red. Entering the complex, I was immediately riveted by a long passage filled with hundreds of golden and bronze lanterns, all of which surprised me, because from what I’d read of Shinto shrines, they are mostly austere edifices, void of color and decor."
(i) 春日大社  Kasuga Taisha
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/春日大社

View photos only.
(ii) The en.wikipedia.org translates 大社 as (Kasuga) Grand Shrine.

(e) "I reached Ise and found my way to Gekū 外宮, or the Outer Shrine * * * soaring torii 鳥居, or gates, marking the sacred entry [to a temple]. * * * Nekū [sic; should be Naikū 内宮], or Inner Shrine, some 20 minutes away by bus, I came upon shrine after shrine, quickly seeing that visitors could only get so close to the forbidding and venerated wooden structures dating to the 3rd century, all unadorned, fenced in and removed from the pathways bordered by impenetrable Japanese cedars. Shinto tradition also dictates that the shrines be rebuilt every 20 years, using wooden dowels and interlocking joints instead of nails"
(i) Ise, Mie  三重県 伊勢市
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ise,_Mie
(on Kii Peninsula 紀伊半島)

Quote: "Ise's history is directly linked to that of Ise Grand Shrine 伊勢神宮. Ise Grand Shrine is separated into two main parts: The Inner Shrine and the Outer Shrine. Despite the names, these are actually two physically separate shrines approximately six kilometers apart."
(ii) Ise Grand Shrine  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ise_Grand_Shrine

Quote: "The Inner Shrine, Naikū 内宮 (also officially known as 'Kotai Jingū 皇大神宮'), is located in the town of Uji-tachi 宇治館町, south of central Ise, and is dedicated to the worship of Amaterasu [天照 (大御神): '太陽を神格化' (according to ja.wikipedia.org) ], where she is believed to dwell. The shrine buildings are made of solid cypress wood and use no nails but instead joined wood. The Outer Shrine, Gekū (also officially known as 'Toyo]-]uke Daijingū 豊受大神宮'), is located about six kilometers from Naikū and dedicated to Toyo[-]uke-Ōmikami 豊受 大御神, the god of agriculture, rice harvest and industry.[1] Besides Naikū and Gekū, there are an additional 123 Shinto shrines in Ise City and the surrounding areas, 91 of them connected to Naikū and 32 to Gekū.