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Japan trip
Day 8 - 13th June - Kasuga Taisha, Nara (Part 6)
Next I headed for the Kasuga Taisha shrine.
Map
I assume this stone has to do with pregnancy
Schoolboys on steps
Deer biscuits which I eventually bought, after confirming that they were the same price throughout the city.
I was bored and curious, so I decided to try a corner of a deer biscuit. If they were good enough for the Messengers of the Gods, they were good enough for me. They were plain but edible.
Prayer hall of Kasuga Taisha
Steps
Shrine entrance
The defining characteristic of this shrine was the lanterns - metal inside, and stone outside (probably so thieves didn't melt them down for metal)
Raked stones
Apple Yard
Cedar Tree
Chumon (two-storied gate)
Tree destroying roof. I'm quite sure the tree has some historico-religious significance, so give it another few decades and eventually they'll have to make a decision about which they rather have: their Holy Tree or their Holy Shrine.
Naoraiden
Golden lantern
One of the mini-shrines tucked at the back
Flags
Lanterns
Drain and lanterns
There was a darkened room with lanterns.
What the shrine looks like at night (presumably not all nights - it'd kill them to do it everyday)
Lantern room
Nanairo-no-yadorigi. The text is a little unclear, but it seems to be saying that this tree is actually seven trees (yet, looking at the tree, it doesn't seem that way).
It can protect pregnant women, and in the Jap tradition you can tie your wish written on paper on its branches; it is reasonable to assume that women would make pregnancy-related wishes. As such, the paltry amount of paper on it is both a symptom and a cause of Japan's low birthrate.
It's also very convenient that you have to come back and untie the paper when your wish is granted - since the shrine has a Y500 admission fee!
More lanterns
Courtyard
Miko. Instead of the ribbons and white toilet paper rolls I'd seen on Miko before, those here use 3 thick metal rings, one inside the other, which I can best describe as mind control devices, and black cloth.
Shrine exit
Lanterns
Their alcohol collection
Wakamiya Jinja plaque. This image is kind of orphaned, because it doesn't seem to accompany a picture. I think it was meant to accompany the alcohol collection, but evidently I didn't take the main building (maybe it was unimpressive). At any rate, the plaque doesn't tell you that although the building was first erected in the 12th century, the current shrine is a 1863 replica. Hurr hurr.
Ema: Unrequited love
Ema: Frog-bats (?!)
There was one last World Heritage site I wanted to see in Nara: the Kasugayama Primeval Forest. Unfortunately:
The sacred forest seemed to be fenced off, and there was no way in. So I couldn't discover for myself how special it was.
I walked up the path a bit but it was netting all the way.
"Nagi pure forest"; "Natural Monument"
Another map of the area