Yesterday, (10-3) we had a busy day. In the morning we went to a shrine to pray for our season and visited the Kyoto Mayor's office to ask for his support. Then in the evening we had our kickoff party for the season.
In the morning though, the first thing we did was go to the temple to pray for our season.
The shrine we went to was Heian Jingu Shrine
It was a very pretty and large temple. As far as I can understand this temple was built to honor the emperor who moved the capital of Japan to Kyoto in the 700's. It is a relatively new temple as the many of the structures were built in the 1900's, with the oldest being in the late 1800's.
The website for this temple said, "...does not only figure as a tourist attraction for foreign visitors but also serves as the spiritual center of the nation as a whole, as well as of the patriotic citizens of Kyoto. "
To pray for the season were invited "into the shrine", past the area where you could go as a tourist, and were all asked to sit on little folding stools that they had set out for us. A Shinto priest (Shintoism and Buddhism are the 2 main religions in Japan) then went through a ritual of blessing us and blessing the few objects (one being a basketball) that we had brought with us. The ritual involved many bows, a few chants,
waving this object in front of us and in front of the things we brought to be blessed, and some claps. When we were finished we were all asked to have a small sip of Sake to cleanse our body and then we were free to go.
It was a really neat ceremony and hopefully it will help us get started on the right track and injury free.
In the morning though, the first thing we did was go to the temple to pray for our season.
The shrine we went to was Heian Jingu Shrine
It was a very pretty and large temple. As far as I can understand this temple was built to honor the emperor who moved the capital of Japan to Kyoto in the 700's. It is a relatively new temple as the many of the structures were built in the 1900's, with the oldest being in the late 1800's.
The website for this temple said, "...does not only figure as a tourist attraction for foreign visitors but also serves as the spiritual center of the nation as a whole, as well as of the patriotic citizens of Kyoto. "
To pray for the season were invited "into the shrine", past the area where you could go as a tourist, and were all asked to sit on little folding stools that they had set out for us. A Shinto priest (Shintoism and Buddhism are the 2 main religions in Japan) then went through a ritual of blessing us and blessing the few objects (one being a basketball) that we had brought with us. The ritual involved many bows, a few chants,
waving this object in front of us and in front of the things we brought to be blessed, and some claps. When we were finished we were all asked to have a small sip of Sake to cleanse our body and then we were free to go.
It was a really neat ceremony and hopefully it will help us get started on the right track and injury free.
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