My first reaction was to reply, "Well it lets me make my obligatory round of visits to old host families," but I knew that wouldn't fly, so I think mumbled something about it giving me a chance to think about Japan and my studies from a different perspective. The truth is I didn't want to admit that traveling to new places in Japan doesn't give me the same sense of awe that it did when I was a kid. Without boasting, I can say that I've been most to most major tourist sites in Japan... more than once. Once you've seen one shrine, you've seen them all. Or maybe not.
One of the places I visited in Kyoto was Fushinami Inari Shrine (伏見稲荷大社). Wilma told me there were a lot of cool statues of foxes, so I thought maybe I would be able to pick up some cool fox-shaped souvenirs. Also, I figured I might as well make a trip of it since I've already been to the other major Kyoto sites: Kiyomizudera, Kinkakuji, Ginkakuji, the Imperial Palace, Sanjusan Gendo, etc.
The shrine is dedicated to Inari, the Japanese god for wealth (particularly fertility, agriculture, and worldly success.) As for the foxes, besides being cute, they are believed to be Inari's messengers. If given tasty offerings like fried tofu, you can expect them to entreat Inari on your behalf. I prayed that I might cram enough into my head to successfully pass the JLPT １級 ~in a way asking for a "wealth" of knowledge, but I didn't think to bring fried tofu (>.<)~#$%^ so we'll see...
Having spent the better part of the day power-walking around downtown Kyoto, I arrived at the shrine around dusk when most shops had already closed down and more people were leaving the shrine than entering it. In other words, the place had this eerie tranquility about it that made me wish I hadn't watched Friday the 13th before I left on my trip.
As I started ascending the mountain on which the shrine is situated, I was delighted to realize that although it was my first time visiting Fushinami, it wasn't the first time I had seen the shrine. I remember it quite vividly from the end of the movie Memoirs of a Geisha where the main character runs through the famous 鳥居 (torii - gate) as a child. I'm not a huge fan of the movie for its storyline, but in any case, the cinematography is beautiful and the ending scene made a strong impression on me.
Also--> flashback to freshmen year. Second semester I watched a lot of videos for French class, one of which was about Jean-Claude and Christo -two famous environmental artists- who created a piece called The Gates in Central Park a few years back. For coming from two totally different sources, I think it's cool how they look so similar~ but then again I'm no art buff. Jean-Claude and Christo also did a piece here in Japan, but it was back in 1984... alas I was but a fetus.
It's hard to describe, but seeing the shrine was like going back to an old haunt that you can almost hear whisper to you. To someone who's seen loads of shrines, it might be said that Inari is not all that different. But that's just it- it was familiar and so, kind of comforting. Paltry as it may seem, I think what I got out of this trip is that seeing, doing something interesting doesn't necessarily have to equate to doing something new. In fact, it's just as fun and profound when you find things that are somehow related to previous experience or knowledge. Over the years, I think it's those kind of connections that have kept me studying Japanese. I never really connected with the culture of other languages I studied, so it was that much easier to quit.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that getting to explore Japan (or East Asia) is a lot more than just buying cool souvenirs (though I do love getting the cool cell phone keychains!) It really is a chance to take a breather from the book learnin' and just think.
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