Jason Raish Illustration Blog: Huge Post, Kyoto

Huge Post, Kyoto - Japan
Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Kyoto is about 30 min from Osaka by train and is a city full of old temples and traditional stuff. I went to the one that everyone goes to (Kiyomizu dera). It was beautiful and all that stuff. I was on my own this day but i managed to find my way around. It is as balls hot in Japan as it is in China.

Kyoto station

there was a hiroshima atomic bomb aftermath mini exhibit in the station.

astroboy outside of the station

like china, lots of women carry around umbrellas to block the sun. even if it is like 4 pm and the sun is shining in their face they will still hold it up in the air. i don't know what they think they're accomplishing. their aim however is to keep their skin young and keep the uv rays out.

a big caucasian ogre of a woman wearing a kimono. She is really gettin' into japan.

these poor guys. these things look heavy as it is. then they have to be out in the swealtering sun all day and occasionaly carry a fat housewife or foreigner around. these guys have got to be ripped.

these are "ema" you write your wish on them and then hang them up and its supposed to come true.

i saw a bunch of foreigners washing their hands in this purified water. A japanese lady yelled at them and said no dont wash your hands in it. poor it over your hands with the stick cup and wash your dirty mitts outside of the bin. obviously they didnt read the lonely planet guide section on washing your hands before entering the temple, if i didnt i would have done the same thing probably.

these water basins for washing hands were in a lot of places.

japanese tourists

i almost went home and didnt pay the extra 3 dollars to go into this area. boy i'm glad i did, it was where all the good stuff was.

you tie these things on to grant your wish or something.

kiyozumi dera is cool because most of it is surrounded by trees and forest instead of sidewalk and city.

you can toss money into the box and pray and ring the gong at many spots around the grounds

i was about to go home again and walked around the corner in exhaustion and found the coolest thing i have seen in japan so far. these are the protectors or the area. I have seen other hills with these guys but think this is the best i've seen so far. it has so much character. it's weathered, mossy, scattered.

some kind of bell

walking stick left behind by some japanese tourist obasan.

this dumb@ass got a tatoo that says "fragrant hometown" in bad bad microsoft word art lettering. its like some dumb@ss american getting a tatoo in chinese characters not knowing what it says and it ends up translating out to "pungent county".

this woman was getting really into it. her skinny little body was twisting all weird while she frantically wafted incence in her direction.

now starts the section of shops and stores and such that lead up and down the hill from the temple. it is quite a charming area.

here is me in my second day in japan not knowing what this pile of metal in my hand is worth while i try to put it in the machine to quench my horrible thirst

there were a lot of school kids around. i am guessing they go to school around there because i can't imagine these kids rushing to the temple after school to get as much cultural goodness as they can. I wonder how weird it is to grown up somewhere where there are always foreigners wondering around examining you.

yes tanuki time!

guy begging for money.

Look at this f'ing insane japanese craftsmanship! where else would people spend this kind of time and dedication? it is meticulously cut to fit these stones! these were just the boards outside of the house. imagine what the inside looks like?