[35-Days Trip 2010] Japan _ Temples and Shrines [continued]

Church of Light was one of the hightlights in my original plan and I even emailed the priest in advance for confirmation of visit ( followed the backpack guide tip). Thank God (literally) I did that, otherwise, I can't imagine if I had run all the way to that "in the middle of nowhere " only to find out the church was under renovation with no visitors allowed.

In order to fill the gap in schedule, I decided to go Awaji Island, where the famous Shingonshu Honpukuji is. Shall I say here that "the fate had brought me from the church to the temple"? Honestly, the most impressive temple I had even visited.

Shingonshu Honpukuji (Water Temple) 水御堂, Awaji Island 淡路岛 by Tadao Ando

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8499133@N02/sets/72157625546941417/with/5291179695/

Origined from the same East Asia root, "red" seems to have developped very different meanings across countries. As a color represented the top hierarchy in feudalistic China, red used to be the privilege of royal family.  After the empiror faded from the stage of history, this color has turned into a well-known Chinese symbol of happiness. However, Japanese are still taking "red" very "serious" and it constantly shows up in the places where the afterwards or the "other" life is conceived.

  

Even though Japanese love temples so much, temple is not the real host of Japanese spirit. While on the other hand, shrine is. It's like the English word "shrine" had never come across my life until the day I started to plan my trip to Japan.

Fushimi Inari Shrine  伏见稻荷大社，Kyoto 京都

There's a shrine, which had never been part of my plan until the minute I saw its name on my way to transfer subway. I believe, to most of Chinese, it is the only knowleged connection with Japanese shrine, and it always comes together with pain and hatred.
All the sudden, I wanted to know this place, not through anything I had heard or learned, but through my own being.

Yasukuni Jinja Shrine 靖国神社，Tokyo 东京

A friend said that I shouldn't have gone there and I'd better not tell anyone I went.
I did go, and instead of going Yasukuni Shrine, I realized I in fact went to a place where I was able to look at the people visiting Yasukuni Shrine. They were praying for "spirits and souls", just as what people do in shrines all over the country. And they were praying in a shrine whose name -"Yasukuni"  was quoted from a phase「吾以靖国也」in the classical-era Chinese text Zuo Zhuan (左传), which literally means "Pacifying the Nation", first used about 1500 years ago in Chinese narrative history to deliver the patriotic spirit of our ancestors.