hosted by In Spring It Is The Dawn
December's Task
The task for this month is to
The city of Kyoto is full of beautiful old temples and shrines* and numerous scenic spots. It truly is a fabulous place to visit and always my first recommendation if anyone will visit Japan. According to the wikipedia entry on Kyoto, there are some 2000 temples and shrines in Kyoto, and I wouldn't be surprised. Quite a few of the well-known ones are visited by the characters in The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata, to admire the cherry blossoms in spring, or to enjoy the view any time of year.
*Temples are Buddhist places of worship, whereas Shrines are Shinto, the native religion of Japan. For more information on Shinto, visit the Shinto page on wikipedia, or this introduction to Shinto from the BBC.
Atop a mountain in northern Kyoto stands this Buddhist temple. Within its grounds is a sanctum where the temple’s followers claim a “demon king” is enshrined. The spirit is said to have come to Earth from Venus 6 million years ago to control the destiny of the human race...
Out of the many venues I selected the Kurama-dera temple to post on based on the description above. I can't help but be intrigued with the idea of a spirit being trapped in a temple on Earth from another planet. So, alien-like. Reminds me of Cthulhu, also an outer space being who is trapped on Earth under water.
This is definitely a place I would like to visit if ever I find myself in Kyoto, Japan. Ah, how my imagination would soar...
*source about demon king
*source temple
*part of my Hello! Japan mini-challenges
