Episode 6: “Bouken”: October 15-November 12

Hello everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve sat down and chatted so let’s cover back over the past few weeks.

Dr. Brown, Mrs. Philpott, and Mrs. Truckner headed west for a while, and their first stop was Momoyama!! We went to Osaka Castle together and learned about the history of Osaka, its military, and so much more! We also got some amazing views from the top floor of the castle! Dr. Brown also identified every single bird that we came across.

 

Have you heard of the place with the thousands of red gates (called Torii, thanks Mrs. Truckner’s 6th grade history class) lined up on a big mountain? They’re in Kyoto at the Fushimi Inari Shrine!! As soon as my host mother and I got off the train, we were immediately met with tons of people from all over the world. We crossed the tracks into the main area and, boom, we were instantly met by a red gate. This wasn't even the biggest one. There are thousands of them around the entire area. At either side of the gates there are also two foxes called ”Komainu”. These two foxes are essentially the guardians of the shrine. Also, when I say there is fox symbolism everywhere, I mean on rice crackers (senbei), on stickers, hats, entire shops with a fox theme, you name it. I even took the long walk under the thousand gates (called 千本鳥居 (senbon torii)). 

Some of the most memorable things were: the largest shrine where you could toss a 1 or 5 yen coin into a box, then pray; getting the highest score (大大吉 Dai Dai Kichi, meaning huge luck) on a fortune gacha (called おみくじ [omikuji]). Later that day, I learned that there is a 0.00004% chance for that fortune to pull! 

There’s a really beautiful shopping district near Shinsaibashi and Namba called “Doutonbori”, and when I tell you this place is huge, it’s huge. There’s even a river that runs under a bridge, splitting the district into two, which is also the most famous attraction here. There’s tons of food, shops, restaurants, and more here. There’s also apparently a famous poster on a called the Glico sign, which is a man running on a track with his hands raised in the air. 

 

That’s all for this entry! Thanks as always for reading.