{"id":2477,"date":"2014-10-30T23:48:57","date_gmt":"2014-10-30T14:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2014-10-30\/2477"},"modified":"2014-10-31T00:10:27","modified_gmt":"2014-10-30T15:10:27","slug":"rediscovering-kyotos-chionin-temple-via-a-short-mountain-hike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2014-10-30\/2477","title":{"rendered":"Rediscovering Kyoto’s Chion’in Temple via a Short Mountain Hike"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBig Bell<\/span>\n70 metric tons of very<\/i> big bell\nat the Chion'in Temple, Kyoto Japan\n\u77e5\u6069\u9662\u306e\u9234\n
Desktop-Background Versions<\/b>\n1280×<\/span>800<\/a>  ·  1680×<\/span>1050<\/a>  ·  1920×<\/span>1200<\/a>  ·  2560×<\/span>1600<\/a>  ·  2880×<\/span>1800<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

It's been a month since I sprained<\/span> my ankle<\/a> while on a mountain<\/span> hike. It's been feeling<\/span> mostly better for a while,<\/span> so I finally<\/span> decided to do a short<\/span> hike\nup to the Shogunzuka overlook<\/a> just to test things out.<\/p>\n\n

The hike is very simple (I've done it with a five<\/span>-year-old in tow<\/a>), and from home it\ntook only 10 minutes to the trailhead, and from there 20 minutes up.<\/p>\n\n

It was a splendid day, but the view from the top was hazy and dull...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/16, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHazy Kyoto<\/span>\nnot much to see today\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The plane in the distance is Jetstar 615, half way on its run from Tokyo\nto Kumamoto. Flying at an altitude of 11km, it's about 34km (21 miles) away\nat this point.<\/p>\n\n

There wasn't much else to see, so I turned<\/span> around to try my luck going\nback down, a direction<\/span> that I tend<\/span> to be injury proned.<\/p>\n\n

A minute into the downhill portion I came<\/span> across trail signposts, and on a whim<\/span> decided\nto take the trail down to the Chion'in Temple, a path<\/span> I'd never taken.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nI Took<\/span> a Left<\/span><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

These local signposts are much nicer than the official Kyoto City posts\nlike the one in the lower right of the photo (like this<\/a>), which\nindicates that the path to Chion'in doesn't even go there (or\nanywhere).<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 2800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nAnti-Ankle Trail<\/span>\nroots and rocks galore\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMore Signposts<\/span>\nwith real information for a change\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The sign above informs me that the trail's exit at the Chion'in Temple closes at 4pm. I had plenty<\/span> of time.<\/p>\n\n

Despite that I used to live about a minute's<\/span> walk away from the Chion'in\nTemple, I've never had much interest in it, other than its famous huge wooden\ngate<\/a>. When you walk through the gate and up the bazillion steps to the\ntemple proper, you're greeted mostly with a vast<\/span> expanse of dusty gravel\nand a common<\/span> (but big) temple building. Not too interesting<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n

The temple building is currently undergoing its once-in-a-hundred-years\nroof repair<\/a>, which made for a great<\/span> photo opportunity for the three\ndays it was open, but for the other years of the project, you get just a big<\/span> ugly protection\nshell<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

So anyway, I was curious where among this stuff the trail came out of\nthe mountain, and with that in mind, I was a<\/span> bit surprised to find the\ntrail exit the mountain near a dilapidated<\/span> and apparently-abandoned\ntemple(ish) building I'd not known of...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/4.5, ISO 2500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMountain Sign<\/span>\nlike the kind commonly seen<\/a> in Kyoto mountains\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

There was also a mini Stonehenge of monuments, including these two massive rocks:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/8, ISO 2000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The carving on the one with the flowing writing is amazing...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 210mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1000 sec, f<\/span>\/8, ISO 5000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n“<\/span>... you too...”<\/span><\/span>\n(about the only thing I could understand)\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Just off trail, spiders had set up their own monuments, with webs that reflected (refracted?) pretty colors...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 500mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/8, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Then I came across an entrance to what I assume<\/span> is a sub<\/span>-temple of some sort, and a graveyard<\/span>:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 2000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n“<\/span>No Passage”<\/span><\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Normally if they don't want you to go in, the sign says “<\/span>Entrance\nProhibited”<\/span>, but this sign says “<\/span>Passage Prohibited”<\/span>. I took that<\/span> to mean\nthat they didn't want you using it as a shortcut<\/span> path to some destination\nbeyond, which meant that I probably<\/span> could have gone in, but I didn't<\/span> want\nto take the chance that I misunderstood,<\/span> so I didn't<\/span> enter. After all, I'm just a<\/span> guest.<\/p>\n\n

Finally I came to the gate that closes at 4pm...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 210mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/8, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nOpen 6am - 4pm<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

And then was stunned to see the biggest bell I'd ever seen:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 58mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nAbsolutely Massive<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n150,000 pounds · 378 years old<\/span>\n(the bell; I'm not sure about the guy)\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I was now regretting that the one lens that I brought<\/span> with me (the Sigma “<\/span>Bigma”<\/span> 50-500mm<\/a>)\ndidn't go nearly wide enough to do this bell justice. According to the sign\nin the photo that leads this post, it was built in 1636 (378 years ago).\nIt's 3.3m (~11 ft) tall, 2.8m wide at the mouth, 30cm (about a foot<\/span>) thick,\nand about 70 metric tons (150,000 pounds).<\/p>\n\n

Just wow.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>30 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 6400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nI'll Need to Come Back<\/span>\nwith more-appropriate lenses\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The bell is a designated “<\/span>Important\nCultural Property of Japan<\/a>”<\/span>, which somehow made it more funny when a\nnewspaper<\/span> delivery guy came whizzing by on his scooter, up the steps I had<\/span>\njust descended, and through the gate that was soon to be locked at\n4pm...<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 1100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLooking Back at the Gate to the Trail<\/span>\nwhere the newspaper guy scootered up and through\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

He came back soon enough, so he probably didn't go up the mountain :-),\nbut instead to the sub-temple area I'd been hesitant to enter.<\/p>\n\n

From the bell area, a short path went down to the aforementioned “<\/span>vast expanse of dusty gravel”<\/span> main area, so by now I\nknew<\/span> where I was,<\/span> but I\nfelt<\/span> silly for not having known about the bell or the\nsub-temple(ish) area. (I didn't<\/span> realize at the time that this was merely\nthe start of many feeling-silly-that-I-was-so-ignorant experiences for the day.)<\/p>\n\n

Rather than go down to the main area, I took another<\/span> path that lead, as\nbest I can<\/span> tell, off the temple property to a very<\/span> small little park that\nwas predominantly filled with big ugly “<\/span>STAY OFF THE GRASS”<\/span> signs, and this\nlittle gazebo with an even uglier “<\/span>CAMPING STRICTLY PROHIBITED”<\/span> sign\nsitting squarely in the one place in the park that anyone might want to\nactually enjoy...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 450 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nMonumentally Ugly<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

This kind of discord (a pleasant\/beautiful scene is totally marred by something ugly that really doesn't need to be there) is common in Japan. It's such a<\/span> shame because the Japanese sense for beauty and harmony with nature is otherwise so nice.<\/p>\n\n

In their defense, though, though the ugly sign does destroy the one nice area of the park someone might want to enjoy,\nit's also the one area someone might want to camp in, so yeah, they have that going for them. \/-:<\/p>\n\n

Anyway, facing the park more or less next to the big bell area was another temple I'd not known existed:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/13, ISO 1250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nAnyoji Temple (\u5b89\u990a\u5bfa)<\/span><\/span>\nentrance of many steps\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/13, ISO 2500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSmall, Well-Tended Graveyard<\/span>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I strolled around the area a bit and finally came across a place<\/span> I'd been before,\na nice set of steps<\/a> set in a mossy<\/span> hillside,\njust off a small<\/span> road. I'd seen it<\/span> just once, 2½ years ago, but recognized it instantly.<\/p>\n\n

So with that point of reference in place, I returned<\/span> to the big bell at\nthe Chion'in Temple, and headed down to the “<\/span>vast expanse of dusty\ngravel”<\/span>... only to be surprised yet again by how much I hadn't<\/span> realized\nexisted.<\/p>\n\n

Continued here...<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It's been a month since I sprained my ankle while on a mountain hike. It's been feeling mostly better for a while, so I finally decided to do a short hike up to the Shogunzuka overlook just to test things out.<\/p>

The hike is very simple (I've done it with a five-year-old in tow), and from home it took only 10 minutes to the trailhead, and from there 20 minutes up.<\/p>

It was a splendid day, but the view from the top was hazy and dull...<\/p>

The plane in the distance is Jetstar 615, half way on its run from [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,1,2,6,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2477"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2477\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}